First Liver Transplant Recipient Discharged, Healthy

Doha, December 19 (QNA) - the first Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) liver transplant patient was discharged from hospital in a good health condition , a HMC press statement said Monday. The first ever liver recipiant operation in Qatar was successfully conducted by an HMC surgical team at Hamad General Hospital on 6th December 2011. The recipient , a 43-year-old Egyptian patient who is resident in Qatar, was successfully discharged on 10 days after the operation, the statment said adding that the patient will be monitored regularly at the OPD liver clinic. Consultant of HMCs Organ Transplant Program Dr. Riyad Abdulsattar said the normal postoperative hospital stay of a liver transplant patient ranges from 2-3 weeks. He added that the rapid improvement in this patient’s health stands as a testimony for the good performance of the Qatar Liver Transplant Programme. A team of surgeons at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has performed the first liver transplant in Qatar, becoming the first medical center in the region to have conducted the complicated life saving surgery relying solely on local specialists. The transplanted liver was donated by a 48-year-old Filipino resident who died of a cerebral stroke. His liver was donated to an Egyptian patient who had suffered for several year complications due to Hepatitis C. The recipient is recovering well after his life changing surgery and is being closely monitored by the medical team from the Qatar Center for Organ Transplantation (QCOT) along with a team of medical professionals at Hamad General Hospital. The surgical team was led by Dr. Abdullah Al Ansari, Consultant Surgeon and Chairman of Surgery at HMC. The team included three consultant surgeons specializing in liver transplants: Hatem Khalaf, Mohamed Shoudry, Henrique Yaktsen in addition to consultant anesthesiologist Mohamad Nagy al Masri. The first liver transplant comes one week after the inauguration of the QCOT. (QNA)