The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) which is under scrutiny after its first, heart, transplant patient died, is in a grim situation on the liver transplant front too. Four out nine liver transplant patients have lost their life leaving behind question marks.
According to official sources, the five survivors are under constant medical follow-up at the institute. The liver transplant programme was an ambitious initiative, taken by Dr KK Talwar in 2008, as the director of this premier institution. PGI is reckoned among the few public sector hospitals, which can boast of liver transplant facilities. Every week PGI gets around five to six patients for liver transplant. With time the number has only been increasing. However, there has been a major roadblock in the program as there is always a dearth of donors. On the other hand, the failure, to save the lives of the patients after transplant will only mount pressure on the institute as the region has a large number of patients requiring transplant.
A faculty member on condition of anonymity said, “There was already a demand for liver transplant among patients suffering from liver cirrhosis. Earlier liver cirrhosis was attached to high alcohol consumption in the region, but with time the numbers of non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients are rising.”
The other major hassle is that after organ transplant, the patient survives on immuno-suppressants and the administration of such drugs needs special medical attention and care. Even after successful transplantation of the organ, a patient start to show rejection symptoms after a certain period of time and it is this area where the institute needs to focus to make its liver transplant program a success, said sources at the premier institute. However, with a bad success rate and the unavailability of donor amid constantly rising demand for liver transplant, the ambitious program of PGI seems to be in major peril.