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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Woman gifts life to her father

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MUSCAT, Dec 10 - She didn’t bat an eyelid when doctors at the Royal Hospital (RH) suggested a living donor liver transplantation for her dad who was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in the liver.


She immediately consented to the procedure which involved surgically removing a section of her liver for saving her father’s life — a decision fully backed by the head of the private hospital where she worked as well as her colleagues.


Now, she had to undergo several medical tests to assess her fitness. While she cleared the fitness test, the other tests proved her liver specimen matched with that of her father.


The transplantation was the final step and it was a success. A portion of her liver was transplanted into the recipient through the procedure.


The transplantation, the second such procedure seen in Oman, was conducted by a team led by Prof Mohamed Rela, one of world’s top liver transplant surgeons, with assistance from RH’s staff.


The team included Dr Sulaiman al Ma’mary, Dr Ahmed al Kindi, Dr Noureen al Balushi and Dr Salem al Riyami. According to the team, the procedure involved two phases: pre-operation and the liver transplantation operation itself.


“Before performing the operation, the donor should undergo several tests that assesses his/her fitness. It is to confirm that the donor and patient are blood group-compatible, assess the size of donor liver and health and confirm the donor is free from any chronic or communicable diseases,” said the doctors.

Liver performs the main task of filtering blood coming from the digestive tract before flowing through the test of the body. The daughter-to-father liver transplantation procedure involved the extraction of a portion (60-65 per cent) of the donor’s liver.


Afterwards, a full extraction of the patient liver is made and the donated liver connected to the patient’s blood vessels and cystic duct. The health of both recipient and donor has been closely monitored by RH’s healthcare providers. The girl is said to be recovering quickly according to the doctors.


“The outstanding success of the two liver transplantation surgeries is the result of a two-year liver transplantation training programme for the Royal Hospital cadre in one of world’s most comprehensive liver-disease management centre,” said Dr Qasim al Salmi, RH Director General.


Al Qasmi said the use of latest equipment and medical devices was key to the success of the surgery. “The Ministry of Health, represented by the Royal Hospital, will take the lead in performing liver transplantations in the future to upgrade the Sultanate’s healthcare system as well as avoiding burden of abroad treatment for patients and their family,” he said.


KABEER YOUSUF


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