World first as Hong Kong surgeons transplant single liver into second patient
World-first procedure sees organ transplanted 11 years ago successfully given to another patient
Hong Kong surgeons have performed a double world first with a transplant from one Hepatitis B sufferer to another of a liver that had already been transplanted once 11 years ago.
Bodybuilder Wong Wan-shing, 37, received the graft at Queen Mary Hospital from a 60-year-old donor identified only as Mr So, who died of a stroke on October 1.
The 11-hour procedure - four to remove the organ from So and seven to implant it in Wong - was performed a day later.
Head of surgery at the hospital, Professor Lo Chung-mau, said Hepatitis B carriers in the past had been considered unsuitable as donors.
But as So had been taking medicine to suppress his infection since his lifesaving transplant more than a decade earlier, the surgeons considered his liver suitable.
But he said a liver from a carrier could only be transplanted to patients with the condition and they must take medication afterwards to control the level of the virus.
Wong sobbed yesterday as he recalled his two-week wait for a donor.
"I was really depressed and worried, wondering how long I could survive and what I could do," he said. "I was joyful when I knew there was an available liver … my life has been saved."
The liver was functioning normally in Wong's body after the surgery and the medical team is confident it will continue to do so despite having been transplanted from a 60-year-old.
Another member of the surgical team, Professor Chan See-ching, said the liver was an amazing organ and did not get old.
"Even if it has been working for many years, the cells will regenerate after being transplanted to another body," he said.
Dr Tiffany Wong Cho-lam, assistant professor of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery at Queen Mary, said the four-hour procedure to remove the organ from So's body had been tricky.
"The liver graft was full of adhesions, and we had to carefully cut and connect the blood vessels of the liver to Wong's body."
Lo said adhesions were common after a transplant as the body had undergone severe trauma.
A daughter of the donor, giving her name only as Miss So, said she hoped her father's donation would make people more aware of the need for organ transplants.
"My family benefited from an organ donation 11 years ago. I understand the feeling of having slight hope in the midst of desperation and of being reborn. It is not only a rebirth [for the patient] but also for a family."
Wong Wan-shing said he had only one wish at the moment.
"I hope to recover soon. I cannot waste the liver given by someone else," he said.
He urged other patients to keep their hopes up.
"If you give up hope, you will soon be desperate and have a weaker will. Will is really important during this process. Don't give up waiting."
