Nepal Mediciti performs another successful living-donor liver transplant
KATHMANDU: Nepal Mediciti Hospital has performed another successful living-donor liver transplant. The operation followed a donation by 37-year-old Sunita Khadka Kunwar to her 48-year-old sister-in-law, Ganga Kumari Thapa Kunwar of Pokhara.
Ganga Kumari had long suffered from jaundice and was admitted with worsening symptoms, including abdominal swelling, fluid accumulation in the abdomen, swelling of the hands and feet, loss of appetite and difficulty walking. Medical examinations at Nepal Mediciti identified autoimmune hepatitis that had progressed to liver cirrhosis and liver failure, and doctors advised an immediate transplant.
Prof Dr Umid Kumar Shrestha, Head of the Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and Liver Transplant Unit at Nepal Mediciti, said tests showed autoimmune hepatitis had led to cirrhosis and liver failure, making urgent transplantation necessary. Liver transplant surgeon Dr Ram Babu Shah added that the decision for immediate transplant followed observations of excessive jaundice, abnormal liver function tests and fluid accumulation in the patient’s abdomen.
Initial compatibility tests of the patient’s elder sister, husband and daughter-in-law showed they were not suitable donors. Subsequent testing found Sunita Khadka Kunwar to be a compatible match, and the transplant was completed successfully.
The donor was discharged eight days after admission, while the recipient left the hospital in good condition 15 days after admission. Both women remain under follow-up care, the hospital reported.
Dr Shrestha emphasised that alcohol is not the only cause of liver failure; jaundice, undiagnosed diseases and fatty liver can also cause serious damage. He noted that early diagnosis and timely treatment of conditions such as fatty liver can help protect the organ from severe injury.
A multidisciplinary team of liver transplant surgeons, hepatologists, anaesthesiologists, critical care specialists, nurses, physiotherapists, cardiologists and pulmonologists from Nepal Mediciti Hospital played a key role in the operation.
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