In a bid to come up with world class outcomes for liver patients in Vidarbha, Wockhardt Hospitals Nagpur and South Asian Liver Institute have joined hands. South Asian Liver Institute has conducted more than 270 Liver transplants in Hyderabad and now aims to do the same in Vidarbha.
With an experience of more than seventeen years in London Prof. Dr. Tom Cherian, Liver Transplant surgeon informed that in case of liver failure, transplant is the only option. Dr. Cherian has been associated with King’s College, London and more than 650 transplants with a success rate of 85-90%. “We are working to achieve the same rate in Vidarbha as well”, said Prof. Cherian
Under this initiative, a separate fully resident team has been established which includes- Gastroenterologists, Critical Care experts and trained doctors & nurses. A separate Liver ICU is also being planned for establishment.
Since 2014-2016, Dr. Tom has done 7-8 transplants in Nagpur and all the operated patients are doing well. With a special interest in children with liver diseases, Dr. Cherian also feels that raising awareness in liver diseases is particularly because more than 50% of the liver gets spoiled before the symptoms start.
He also spoke about the symptoms of Liver failure which include:
The early symptoms of liver failure are often similar to those of liver diseases and other conditions. Because of this, liver failure may be tough to diagnose at first. Early symptoms include:
But as liver failure progresses, the symptoms become more serious, needing care right away. These symptoms include:
- Jaundice
- Swollen belly
- Mental confusion (known as hepatic encephalopathy)
In liver transplant surgery, the patient’s old liver is removed completely and a new one from a liver donor is put in the same place after joining the blood vessels and the bile duct.
Liver failure can occur rapidly, in a matter of weeks (acute liver failure), or it can occur slowly over months and years (chronic liver failure). There are different causes for liver failure such as chronic viral infection with B and C virus, liver tumor, alcoholism, fatty liver, bile duct abnormalities (primary biliary cholangitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and biliary duct atresia). Hepatitis B and C are the two most common infections across the world. Luckily there is an effective vaccine for hepatitis B and cure by drugs for hepatitis C. Primary Liver Cancer develops in chronically diseased livers and sometimes develops rapidly so that no treatment is possible. If picked up on screening when the size is small, liver transplant can cure these patients.
