Surgeons operated on him for 10 hours

Doctors at the Fortis Hospital, Noida, have been able to save the life of a nine-year-old boy from Lahore, Amaar Asif, who was suffering from end-stage kidney and liver disease through a successful medical intervention.

It required a battery of 10 surgeons, six anaesthetists and 30 nurses who were involved in a 10-hour-long operation which included simultaneous transplant of the kidney and liver in the child.

The child was brought in with primary hyperoxaluria (excessive urinary excretion of oxalate) and had to undergo a cleansing process (haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis) prior to the operation to reduce the oxalate levels in the blood.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Dr. Vivek Vij, Director, GI Surgery and Liver Transplant at the Hospital, said: “In this case the patient and the two donors are operated in tandem. The child has been in pain for the past five years and had become very weak when he came to us. The kidney was donated to the patient by his paternal uncle while the part liver donor was the patient’s maternal uncle.”

The hospital authorities added that in Amaar’s case the operation was particularly difficult because of his compromised immunity status. “The treatment of the child has been sponsored by the Government of Pakistan,” noted a release issued by the Hospital.

“Amaar who is now ready for discharge was kept under the close observation of specialists for nearly 10 days immediately after the operation which was conducted on April 15,” added the release.