Delay in treatment of liver ailments at birth put the lives of the these children at risk

 • 3 Infants from Philippines aged 6 months - 1 year, undergo successful Liver Transplant at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals

• Since October 2020, 12 children from Philippines have undergone liver transplant at Apollo 

Shabdawani Samachar, Saturday 19 December 2020, New Delhi. The ease in travel restrictions has come as a respite for patients travelling from across borders. Some patients have had to suffer for almost 10 months due to delay in specialised medical attention that has led to worsening of their condition. Similar is the case of infants from Philippines who recently underwent liver transplant at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi. These infants between the age of 6 months to 1 year were either born with chronic liver disorders or developed liver cirrhosis right after birth. This condition, if treated immediately after birth, is completely curable with medicines and supportive care, but can be life threatening if the treatment is delayed and in certain cases can lead to loss of life. With lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed worldwide due to COVID 19, the condition of these children deteriorated to such an extent that a transplant was the only way out.

Dr Neerav Goyal, Senior Consultant and Head, Liver Transplant, at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said, “These children were in a grave health condition and any further delay  in medical intervention could have been fatal. Fortunately with ease in international travel and immense support by embassies of the countries we have been able to conduct timely and successful liver transplants. Despite travel restrictions due to COVID 19, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals has ensured that treatment of such kids in need is done on priority. These kids are brought to the hospital on special flights, with a medical team on board to tackle any emergencies. Since October, 12 children from Philippines have undergone liver transplant at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals. 3 of them are currently undergoing post-operative care. We have seen a higher incidence of infants with liver related ailments needing liver transplants coming from the South East Asian countries. The reasons can be genetic or hereditary.

A liver transplant, surgery is done when patients have a high risk of dying from their disease in the ensuing one year. Since COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, many of these patients are unlikely to survive the period of pandemic without liver transplant. At Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals there is a strict zoning and segregation of COVID-19 positive and negative areas, and thus other operative procedures are being carried out successfully.