Dhriya, the six-month-old infant with congenital liver disease, who had been given a fresh lease of life through a liver donated by Aalin, the youngest deceased organ donor in the State, returned home safe and sound on Monday.

A statement issued by KIMSHEALTH, which had performed the liver transplant, said that the liver transplant had been the only viable option to save the infant, who had been diagnosed with biliary atresia, a condition characterised by a blockage in the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder.

The disease occurs when the bile ducts, either inside or outside the liver, fail to develop normally. The condition affects approximately one in 70,000 newborns worldwide. She had earlier undergone Kasai surgery elsewhere, a procedure in which the blocked bile ducts are removed and a new pathway for bile drainage is created using a portion of the small intestine. Despite that, she developed complications including portal hypertension, refractory ascites and synthetic dysfunction.

When ten-month-old Aalin was declared brain-dead and her parents decided to immortalise her by donating her organs, a life-line for Dhriya opened up. Aalin’s liver was a perfect match for the infant, following which, Dhriya underwent a high-risk, 12-hour liver transplant surgery.

“This was an extraordinarily challenging transplant, given the donor’s and recipient’s age. Yet, as a team, we took up the challenge to restore hope and joy to the parents of Dhriya. The post-operative phase was equally demanding, requiring round-the-clock vigilance and the coordinated expertise of intensivists, anaesthetists, nurses, and the entire multidisciplinary team,” doctors said. The infant recvered well and her liver function has now stabilised, they added

The surgical team was led by Shiraz Ahmad Rather, Consultant & Head of Multivisceral Transplant and Shabeerali T.U, Chief Coordinator and Senior Consultant, Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic & Liver Transplant Surgery, KIMSHEALTH