The Organ Transplant Team at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Hamad General Hospital has successfully performed Qatar’s second ever liver transplant from a living donor. The country’s first liver transplant from a living donor was performed at the end of last year.
The recipient of this latest transplant, which took place earlier this month, was a 40-year-old Egyptian male who had been suffering from chronic liver disease. His 30-year-old brother donated part of his liver for the procedure.
Dr Yousef Al Maslamani, Medical Director of Hamad General Hospital and Director of Qatar Centre for Organ Transplantation said living donor liver transplantations are very complex.
The transplant was planned and performed by HMC’s highly qualified team of liver transplant surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, and technicians. World-renowned Japanese liver transplant surgeon Professor Yasuhiro Ogura supervised the procedures.
In a living donor transplant, both the donor and the recipient undergo surgery simultaneously, with the donor’s surgery beginning a few hours in advance of the recipient’s surgery. Successful living-donor transplantation is complex and requires high levels of coordination, teamwork, and clinical expertise.’
He added that working with international specialists continue to enhance the quality of healthcare services at HMC.
The future of our population’s health and well-being depends on supplementing our existing expertise and this means working in close partnership with a wide array of leading international agencies and institutions to ensure our self-sufficiency. We remain focused on becoming a regional centre of excellence in multi-organ transplantation.
Since the launch of the Qatar Organ Donation Centre (HIBA), we have developed a robust deceased organ donation programme. We are continuing to work to expand this programme, raising public awareness about organ donation and the importance of registering as an organ donor. There are currently over a quarter of a million registered organ donors in the country, but the need for organ donors has never been greater. Choosing to become an organ donor truly is a life-saving decision.’
The organ transplant recipient is comfortably recovering at his home, thanks to HMC, for the high-quality care he received before and after his operation. To date, five liver transplants have been carried out in Qatar during 2017, with a 100% success rate.
For more information about the services available at HMC, visit their website at hamad.qa.