Sri Lankan children with end-stage liver disease fight back to full health

Forte International, Sri Lanka, in collaboration with Global Hospitals & Health City, Chennai, India, have together given hope to Sri Lankans seeking medical attention, especially in the critical area of complex liver and pancreatic diseases management and transplantation at the world’s most comprehensive centre for liver and pancreatic diseases and transplantations, the Global Hospitals & Health City, Chennai, which is also the only dedicated centre for paediatric liver diseases and transplantations in India.

Their most recent success story is the case of two babies, Baby Nethum and Baby Poojani from Sri Lanka, who along with the liver specialists at Global Hospitals & Health City, Chennai, battled against all odds to undergo complex liver transplantations.

“Today they are nothing but a pure bundle of joy for their parents, growing up healthily and enjoying a normal life,” said Chairman Forte Group M.F.A. Riyas.

World renowned Liver Surgeon Prof. Mohamed. Rela, Head – of HPB & Liver Transplantation Surgery, Global Hospitals Group, said: “The incidence of liver disease amongst children is a growing phenomenon. It is extremely important to detect the symptoms early for effective and timely treatment. Baby Nethum and Poojani are classic cases of complete recovery from complex liver diseases upon undergoing liver transplantation.”

Eight month old Nethum was airlifted from Sri Lanka under medical supervision to the Liver ICU at Global Hospitals & Health City, Chennai, on the last day of December 2010. He was incubated in less than 48 hrs from admission and remained on high ventilator support. The child had no option for survival other than to have a Liver transplantation.

The child’s mother was willing to be the donor and she was evaluated to donate her left lateral segment of the liver (about 30%). The decision to transplant Nethum was taken after due consideration of several aspects as he was a very high risk recipient.

He underwent a living donor liver transplantation and following the surgery, the liver function normalised in three days and was extubated on the fourth day after surgery. Today, four months post transplant, the child is healthy with normal liver functions and is neurologically and developmentally catching up with the usual milestones.

Baby Poojani, an 11 month old baby, was brought to the Liver Clinic at Global Hospitals & Health City, Chennai as a malnourished child weighing 5.2kg. Very irritable and crying almost incessantly, all the features pointed towards failure to thrive. On evaluation by the paediatric hepatologists and transplant surgeons at Global Hospitals, it was decided that she needed a liver transplant.

Her mother came forward to donate part of her liver and Baby Poojani underwent living donor liver transplantation (using about 25% of the liver from her mother). She was discharged from the hospital in three weeks and on discharge, her liver function was normal and she had already started gaining weight. At six weeks post transplant, she was a totally different child in comparison to her first clinic visit weighing seven kg, very pleasant and cheerful. She is now eight months post liver transplant, back in Sri Lanka and leading a normal life.

According to Dr. Gomathi Narasimhan, Senior Consultant, HPB & Liver Transplantation Surgery, Global Hospitals & Health City: “It is extremely important that patients and parents in the case of children suffering with liver problems do not lose hope. Medical advancements through technological developments, coupled with innovative surgical and treatment practices are delivering excellent results. At Global Hospitals, the depth of expertise and technology is very high. We are completely dedicated and committed to delivering an exceptional quality of treatment from the simplest to the most complex cases of liver and pancreatic diseases.”

The Centre for Liver and Pancreatic Transplants at Global Hospitals is the most comprehensive in the world and Global Hospitals is acknowledged to be the pioneers in India for liver disease management and transplants since 2003 and today are considered leaders.

Forte International in Sri Lanka assists patients go over to Global Hospitals for treatment. Due to the strong hold it has in the pharmaceutical, health care and marketing services, as well as in international businesses, Global Hospitals selected Forte International Pvt. Ltd. as their strategic partner for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, to facilitate those who wish to travel to India for world class medical treatment.

“All you need to do is forward your medical reports to Forte for a free medical opinion from the specialised team of doctors at Global Hospitals Group and we will arrange the response within 24 hours,” said Riyas.

The Global Hospitals Group has a dedicated International Patient Assistance Centre, which provides support to patients and family members who are far away from home.

The International Patient Assistance Centre facilitates transfers between the airport and the hospital by coach/car/ambulance, provides options for hotels or long stays in apartments, provides interpreter services, prescribes follow-up and rehabilitation care, as well as a single window of contact with mentors being assigned to take care of all needs of patients. Assistance is also provided in registering with the FRRO (Foreign Resident Registration Office), as well as other services.  The Forte International Patient Information and Assistance Centre arranges the appointments with specialists on a priority basis, provides cost estimates and the duration of treatments in advance so that there is no inconvenience caused while travelling for treatment.  Global Hospitals along with Forte International also brings down specialists for knowledge sharing sessions with Sri Lankan doctors in the form of Continuous Medical Educational programmes [CMEs], besides organising short term training programmes for Sri Lankan doctors in India. Further information could be obtained from logging on to www.forteglobal.org.