BANGALORE, KARNATAKA, INDIA

HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd, The Specialist in Cancer Care, performed the first auto liver transplantation ( Ex Vivo liver resection) in Karnataka.

Thimme Gowda, 64 year old patient, from Bangalore, was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with Hepato Cellular Carcinoma, at a private hospital in the city. His condition was critical and was referred to HCG from another oncologist for a second opinion.

Dr. Sanjay Govil, Liver Transplant Surgeon, HCG, said, “Initially the patient had began to notice a feeling of abdominal fullness and loss of appetite since April 2012. He first went to another private hospital in the city and an ultra sound scan detected large tumor in the liver, in the size of a large melon that was in the center of his liver. The tumor was awkwardly situated at a site where it partially obstructed all three Hepatic veins that carried blood out of the liver towards the heart.

Any attempt at trying to remove the tumor by standard surgery would result in profuse bleeding from these veins that were likely to be injured while removing the tumor. The other oncologist was kind enough to seek a second opinion from the specialist and refer the patient.”

He further adds. “We analyzed the case in detail. The procedure adopted was to remove the liver from the patient’s body so that we could wash it in a preservative solution (Custodiol HTK solution) and keep it in ice so that the liver could survive a number of hours without blood flow.

We therefore chose this approach – called ‘Ex-vivo’ resection – literally meaning ‘out of body’- also called ‘Bench Surgery’ (because it is done on the bench next to the patient) and ‘Auto-transplantation’ – meaning that the patient’s own healthy liver is transplanted back into his body. We were able to perform the operation safely with very little blood transfusion. The patient’s liver function is very good postoperatively and he is recovering slowly. Ex–vivo resection is performed in the specific instance where the tumor involves either the veins draining the liver or the main vein draining blood back to the heart – where considerable blood loss is anticipated. This case highlights not only a rare and unusual operation, but also the importance of referral to specialists before denying treatment to someone and the importance of patients getting a second opinion for major illnesses.

About HCG

Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd, (HCG), The Specialist in Cancer Care, headquartered in Bangalore with over 25 cancer centers is South Asia’s largest cancer care network. HCG has defined the future of cancer care in India by designing, building and managing cancer care centers with a committed vision. HCG focuses on cancer care treatment, imaging and laboratory services, clinical trials and research services. The vision of HCG is to make high quality cancer care accessible by adopting global innovations to all segments of the society.