Live liver transplant in pvt hosp. Is KEM listening?

Even as Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital inaugurates its centre of excellence for liver transplant on Sunday, KEM Hospital, one of the city’s largest civic-run hospitals, is still struggling with its liver transplant programme.

KEM Hospital is the only public hospital to have a liver transplant programme. Presently, 20 people are waiting on its list for liver transplants.

A senior doctor from KEM said, “After the initial failure of ‘live’ liver transplants, we decided to do only cadaver liver transplants. Once the cadaver liver transplants pick up, we will start live liver transplants too.”

The liver transplant facility in KEM hospital, which was inaugurated in June 2010, has conducted only five living donor liver transplants so far.

Experts say even private hospitals in Mumbai lag behind other cities with regard to the number of live liver transplants. They blame it on doctors’ reluctance to perform the surgery, as it is a complicated procedure.

Ambani hospital has, therefore, decided to bring in a team from Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram hospital, which is famous for such surgeries. Dr Vinay Kumaran, who will head the team at Ambani hospital, said, “We are sure that our team will help give end-stage liver transplant patients in Mumbai a ray of hope.”