South India’s Smallest Baby Successfully Undergoes Liver Transplant at Hyderabad’s Rainbow Children’s Hospital
Hyderabad, Oct 10 (TNT): Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Banjara Hills has successfully performed a living-donor liver transplant on a six-week-old baby weighing just 2.9 kg, in what the hospital described as a landmark achievement in paediatric transplantation in South India.
The baby, who developed rapidly progressive liver failure due to a rare condition called Gestational Alloimmune Liver Disease (GALD), received a 62-gram liver graft donated by his mother and recovered from several postoperative complications before being discharged, the hospital said in a release on Saturday.\
The infant developed jaundice during the first week of life and progressed to severe liver failure by the third week. The hospital’s Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology team suspected GALD after investigations ruled out major infections, metabolic disorders and genetic causes.
When treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and two exchange transfusions failed to arrest the deterioration, the team proceeded with liver transplantation.
The procedure was particularly challenging because of the baby’s extremely small blood vessels and limited abdominal space.
The mother’s liver graft was carefully reduced to 62 grams to match the infant’s size. Connecting the tiny blood vessels and positioning the graft required meticulous planning and surgical precision, the hospital said.
The postoperative course was complicated by severe respiratory problems requiring advanced breathing support, including high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and inhaled nitric oxide.
The baby also developed serious infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and an intestinal leak that necessitated a second surgery and the creation of temporary stomas.
With prolonged intravenous nutritional support and gradual reintroduction of oral feeds, the baby eventually recovered sufficiently to be discharged breathing without oxygen, taking full feeds orally, with the transplanted liver functioning well, according to the hospital.
Dr Prashant Bachina, Paediatric Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, said early diagnosis and timely transplantation could be critical in newborns with rapidly worsening liver failure. He emphasised the importance of specialised paediatric centres with multidisciplinary expertise, adding that close postoperative monitoring, nutritional support and timely management of complications were essential to the infant’s recovery.
Dr Srinivas Reddy Mettu, Paediatric Liver Transplant Surgeon, said transplantation in a baby weighing 2.9 kg required exceptional surgical expertise because of the tiny blood vessels and restricted space in the abdomen. Reducing the donor graft to 62 grams and connecting the blood vessels safely demanded meticulous planning, precision and close teamwork, he said.
The infant’s treatment involved specialists in paediatric hepatology, liver transplant surgery, paediatric and neonatal intensive care, anaesthesia, paediatric surgery, radiology, nutrition, physiotherapy and infection control, supported by transplant-trained nursing staff and coordinators.
Rainbow Children’s Hospital said its paediatric liver transplant programme, operating across Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, had completed 107 paediatric liver transplants with an overall survival rate of 95 per cent.
Rainbow Children’s Medicare Limited operates 26 hospitals, six outpatient clinics and two dedicated IVF clinics across 11 cities, with a total bed capacity of 2,565.
Its services include newborn and paediatric intensive care, specialised paediatric treatment, organ transplantation, maternal care, fertility services and advanced obstetric care.
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