Shanghai Yanhua & Pediatric Hospital Open Medical Channel, 4-Month-Old Infant Gets a New Chance at Life after Liver Transplantation

发布时间:2022-06-06 13:48:42

       “The baby’s jaundice disappeared quickly, and the skin isn’t as yellow anymore. Thank you, Doctor Shen.” At noon, May 13th, Dr. Shen Conghuan from the general surgery department of Huashan Hospital received this message from Xiaotong’s mother. “The baby’s pre-surgery bilirubin level exceeded 500 (an important factor in determining the severity of jaundice), the day after the surgery, bilirubin level has dropped to less than 100, indicating the surgery went smoothly.”

 

       During January this year, 3 days after Xiaotong was born, his family noticed that his eyes and skin started turning yellow. The family visited many hospitals looking for treatment, but the condition never got better. In March, Xiaotong’s parents brought him to the Hepatology department of Pediatric Hospital of Fudan University, and he was diagnosed with cholestasis and liver failure. After treatment, his condition gradually improved. In April, Xiaotong started experiencing a loss of appetite, fatigue, lack of laughter, and his case of jaundice worsened. On May 6th, his worried parents once again brought him to the Pediatric Hospital of Fudan University, looking for help. After treatment in the ICU, Xiaotong was temporarily out of danger. After careful consideration, Director Xie Xinbao determined that Xiaotong is in need of immediate liver transplantation because his life was in danger from his case of jaundice, ascites, poor coagulation, and slow reaction time.


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       Director Xie quickly notified the Huashan Liver Tranplant Team about the child’s condition. Under COVID protocol, the team put the liver donor, Xiaotong’s father, into quarantine on May 9th, and finished pre-surgery checkups on May 10th.

 

       On the morning of May 11th, who completed pre-surgery checkups at the Pediatric Hospital, was escorted by Dr. Wang Yixue as he was transferred from the PICU to the operating room at Huashan Hospital. Through the management of head nurse Li Gendi, both operations involving the donor and the recipient were performed simultaneously. The team consisting of Professor Lu Lu and Zhu Wenwei removed the left latoral lobe of the donor’s liver through laparoscopic surgery. After, Professor Tao Yifeng trimmed the size of the liver, and Professor Wang Zhengxin successfully transplanted the trimmed 205-gram liver for Xiaotong. ‘The surgery was very successful. We do this type of children liver transplantation operations 40 to 50 times every year. We’ve had plenty of experience”, said Dr. Shen.

 

       On the morning of May 12th, Xiaotong recovered well after the surgery. After he took off the ventilator, he was transferred back to the Pediatric Hospital into the care of the PICU. After he was out of danger, he was transferred to the general ward. Meanwhile, his father also recovered well at Huashan Hospital, and was set to leave on May 16th. Knowing the financial difficulties of the family, Dr. Shen connected with the Shanghai Yanhua Charity Foundation and covered all expenses of the operation.


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      It is reported that Huashan Hospital and the Pediatric Hospital signed an agreement in July 2015. The two hospitals promised to work to each other’s strength, starting a long term cooperation in finding better treatment processes for children in need of liver transplants, with experts of liver transplantation at Huashan Hospital, the PICU at Pediatric Hospital, general surgery department, and hepatology department providing professional medical services, creating a seamless process. As of today, the two hospitals have worked together to save more than 200 children, giving those families more hope for the future.


(Translated by Chen Marco Haotian, a volunteer)