Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) yesterday announced that it last month performed two liver transplants that set national records for the youngest patients — a 25-day-old boy in Taiwan and an 11-month-old girl in Vietnam — to receive such surgery.
The boy, surnamed Chang (張), was diagnosed with neonatal hemochromatosis by doctors at National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan when he was 15 days old and weighed 3.5kg.
As Chang displayed symptoms of fulminant hepatic failure, making a liver transplant urgent, the hospital transferred him to the Taipei hospital for further treatment, Veterans Division of Pediatric Surgery head Liu Chin-su (劉君恕) said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Neonatal hemochromatosis results from an intra-uterine antibody that targets a baby’s liver cells and leads to iron deposits in the liver or other tissues, which could be deadly, Liu said.
A baby born with the disorder might display symptoms of liver failure, including low blood sugar levels, impaired blood coagulation, jaundice, abnormal accumulation of fluids, low urine output, or even multiple organ failure, necessitating immediate liver surgery, he said.
Prior to Chang’s surgery, a team of doctors treated him with intravenous immunoglobulin and repeated hemodialysis to make sure his condition was stable enough to receive a transplant, he added.
On April 15, the mother — who was still under postpartum care at the time — donated part of her left liver to the boy, Liu said.
After a nearly nine-hour surgery, the boy is recovering and would be allowed to leave the hospital in a few days, he said.
TVGH doctors on April 1 visited a children’s hospital in Hanoi to perform a similar surgery on an 11-month-old girl surnamed Chen (陳), who had liver failure after contracting a rare disease, progressive familial Intrahepatic cholestasis type 2.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS