Abstract
Liver transplantation is now a well-established therapy for children with acute liver, end-stage liver disease, and a variety of metabolic disorders. The first successful liver transplant in India was performed in an 18-month-old child with end-stage liver disease secondary to biliary atresia in November 1998 at Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi. That child remains well 17 years posttransplantation. Over the years, the indications have expanded, and successful living-related liver transplantation has been reported for acute liver failure and metabolic disorders such as Crigler-Najjar syndrome. Age and size are no longer barriers as babies as young as 6 months have been transplanted. Excellent survival figures have been reported in children weighing less than 7.5 kg. Fathers have now started to come forward as donors. Children from different parts of India and more than 20 countries have been transplanted. The average cost of a pediatric transplant in India is 23,000 to 27,000 USD. This is only about one fifth to one tenth the cost in the West. With 5-year survival rates of 90%, India has now become a major center for LT for international patients as well. With increasing acceptance of LT among the medical community and the public at large, there is now potential for the number of liver transplants to increase significantly so as to offer hope to the thousands of children who suffer from liver failure.
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Bhatia, V., Kapoor, A., Gopalan, S., Sibal, A. (2018). Pediatric Liver Transplantation in Countries with Low Resources: Medical Issues Before and After Transplant. In: Dunn, S., Horslen, S. (eds) Solid Organ Transplantation in Infants and Children. Organ and Tissue Transplantation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07284-5_16
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