First time ever split liver transplant performed in two adults in Delhi

Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals have announced the successful completion of a cadaver split liver transplant wherein both the parts of the liver were given to two adult recipients.

The right half of the liver was given to Mr Sarin and the left half to Mrs Lalita Gupta. Both patients were very ill with very advanced liver disease. Numerous living related donors for both these patients had been tested in the past and proven unsuitable for donation.

This is the first split liver transplant in two adults reported in the city and the second in the India.

Explaining the uniqueness of the case, Subash Gupta, Chief Liver Surgeon, said that in split liver transplant, the intention is to use the single liver for two patients. Unfortunately because the two parts are not equal, surgeons use the right half for an adult patient and the other half for a small child.

He added that cadaveric liver are very rarely split and used for two adults with advanced liver disease. In this case, the cadaveric liver was split in situ using the vast experience of living related liver transplant. The right lobe was retrieved as a conventional modified right lobe graft.

He noted that the remaining liver was removed en bloc with caudate lobe, IVC and coeliac axis. Retrieving the caudate lobe allowed the liver to be used in another adult recipient. This is the first split liver transplant where the left lobe was transplanted with the caudate lobe."

Dr Gupta further said, "Cadaveric organs continue to be in short supply and therefore every effort must be made to use these donated organs in as many needy recipients as possible. Splitting liver in to adults may address the perennial shortage of organs in India and we hope that many more of these complex operations are done in the future.

Both the patients have recovered well and have been discharged from the hospital.