Doctors achieved a Taiwan first with a lung transplant on an 11-year-old girl, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Surgeons in October completed a 15-hour operation to replace the child’s damaged lungs with donations from her father’s lower right lung and the lower left lung of her mother, said Hsu Hsao-hsun (徐紹勛), head of the hospital’s thoracic surgery unit.
The girl, surnamed Liao (廖), was transferred to NTUH from another hospital in July last year after a cellulitis infection developed into sepsis, which required her to be put on life support, Hsu said.
Photo copied by Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Liao was put on a transplant waiting list, but no suitable lungs were found due to a chronic shortage of registered organ donors, he said, adding that living donations from family members comprise the vast majority of the nation’s liver and kidney transplants.
The parents consented to each donate lung portions when doctors presented them with the option, he said.
In 2005, NTUH was certified to perform live lung transplants by what was at the time the department of health, he said.
The hospital has carefully maintained the capability to carry out the procedure, Hsu said.
Regulations stipulate that living donations of lungs must come from two blood relatives within five degrees of separation from the recipient, while there are additional medical requirements linked to lung health, age and body size, he said.
NTUH did not make the decision to proceed with the transplant lightly, as the chances of success for the operation were assessed at no more than 50 percent by Kyoto University Hospital, the world’s leading authority on the procedure, Hsu said.
The operation presented a significant challenge, as the lung tissue had to be removed from two donors and transplanted into the patient, with each step carrying a risk of death, he said.
Four surgical teams rehearsed the operation in 16 planning sessions before conducting the procedure, he said.
Children who get lung transplants have a 10-year survival rate of 80 percent and Liao’s prognosis is likely better because transplants from blood relatives carry a smaller risk of rejection, he said.
The girl is in physical therapy to ensure the transplants remain healthy and grow with her, he added.
Liao’s father said it was trying to see their child on the verge of death.
He jumped at the chance to save his daughter’s life, he said.
The sole concern he had with the procedure was his high blood-sugar levels, which could have made his lung tissue unsuitable for transplantation, the father added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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