For the first time in Ukraine, part of the liver was transplanted to a five-month-old child

seven-month-old child/NDSL Okhmatdyt

The doctors of “Okhmatdyt” performed a unique operation to transplant part of the liver to a five-month-old baby. A liver transplant was the boy's only chance to survive.

This operation was the boy's only chance to survive. This was reported in the hospital's press service.

This is the first transplant in Ukraine from an adult for a patient of this age. For this operation, doctors of “Okhmatdyt” consulted with colleagues from Japan and Korea in order to choose the optimal approach.

According to the message, little Matvii was born prematurely – at 36 weeks of pregnancy. Then he was diagnosed with a rare developmental defect – biliary atresia, in which the gallbladder and bile ducts in the liver are absent. As a result, toxins begin to accumulate in the liver, quickly leading to cirrhosis.

Monosegmental liver transplantation from an adult donor requires very precise calculations, because the organ must correspond to the weight and physiological characteristics of the child. The donor for Matvii was his mother, whose liver was ideally suited for this extremely difficult operation. The part we transplanted weighed 118 grams, explained transplant surgeon Oleg Godik.

Due to the fact that the boy was diagnosed too late, it was impossible to avoid the transplant. The boy was admitted to “Okhmatdyt” when he was four months old, in critical condition. Due to liver failure, his kidneys also started to fail. A team of intensive care physicians, resuscitators, and nephrologists fought for the boy's life for more than a week. In particular, they used special equipment that temporarily performed the functions of kidneys and liver. When the condition was stabilized, the doctors decided to perform a transplant.

The liver transplant lasted almost a day. First, they took the organ from the mother, and then transplanted it to the boy. After the transplant, Matvii went through a difficult period of rehabilitation.
The mother was able to see her son only on the third day.

By now, the boy has already been discharged home. For the next six months, he will undergo regular examinations under the supervision of “Okhmatdyt” specialists.