In a rare medical exchange, doctors from Taiwan flew to Beijing to conduct a risky liver transplant on a woman whose parents posted a plea for help on the Internet when her Chinese doctors said they couldn't save her.
Thirteen doctors from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital decided to offer their expertise free of charge to give 20-year-old Dong Guonu a new liver, the hospital said yesterday.
The Taiwanese team collaborated with Chinese doctors at Beijing's Union Hospital on Thursday to perform the operation, in which Dong received a part of her mother's liver.
The Chinese doctors had told Dong's parents they were not experienced enough to conduct a transplant from a living donor, said Susan Lo, a spokeswoman at Chang Gung.
The Dongs had been searching for medical help since their daughter was diagnosed with Wilson's disease six years ago, and her condition deteriorated severely months ago, Lo said.
Patients with the disease have excessive copper buildup in the bloodstream as their liver fails to release copper into the bile, leading to damage in the kidneys, brain and eyes.
Thursday's operation was the first time ever that a liver taken from a living donor was transplanted into an adult in Beijing, Lo said.
Last year, Chang Gung physicians helped a 12-year-old mainland Chinese girl receive a liver transplant from her mother, a less complicated operation because children have smaller livers, Lo said.
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