Institute has carried out highest number of liver transplants among govt medical facilities in India; 60 patients are still on waiting list
As the globe celebrated World Health Day on April 7, the Institute Of Kidney Disease And Research Centre (IKDRC) performed its 500th live transplant.
Of the total 500 liver transplants done at the institute in the last 14 years, 100 were performed in the last two years. Doctors said the rising awareness about organ donation had resulted in a rise in the number of such transplants in the last two years.
Talking to Mirror about the momentous number, V-C of Gujarat University of Transplant Science and State Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) Convenor Dr Pranjal Modi said IKDRC did its first liver transplant in 2008. “Of the 500 transplants done in the last 14 years, 100 happened in the last two years. Rise in awareness about organ donation has resulted in seven to eight organ transplants being done every month from the earlier two to three a month,” said Modi. He said the hospital has 60 patients who are still on the waiting list for a liver transplant. Of the 500 liver transplants, 440 livers were harvested from cadavers while 60 were from live donors.
Dr Modi said among government medical institutions, IKDRC has conducted the highest number of liver transplants in India. He said Civil Hospital began SOTTO in 2020 and now has an entire team of medical professionals who counsel family members of brain dead patients about how organ donation it can help others. “They also ensure proper medical management of a brain dead patient. This has resulted in a rise in cadaver organ donation,” he said.
He said liver transplants are required in case of liver failure. A liver transplant costs around Rs8 lakh but Rs5 lakh is waived off under the PMJAY scheme.
