HMC completes Qatar’s first-ever liver transplant from a living donor

The Hamad General Hospital, operated and managed by the Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC), has added another feather to its cap by successfully completing Qatar’s first-ever liver transplant from a living donor.

“The transplant was planned and performed by HMC’s experienced team of liver transplant surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and technicians. The procedure consisted of partial resection of the donor’s liver, which took eight hours to complete, and the removal of the recipient’s liver.

“Implanting the donated portion of the liver in the body of the recipient, who suffered from liver cirrhosis, took 12 hours to complete. We also had expert opinion from a team of visiting Korean organ transplant surgeons,” Hamad General Hospital Medical Director and Head of the Organ Transplant Committee Dr Yousef Al Maslamani was quoted as saying by Qatar Tribune.

He added that there were plans to increase liver transplants in Qatar from live and brain-dead donors as well.

Relentless efforts are being made by HMC’s Qatar Center for Organ Transplantation and the Qatar Organ Donation Center to encourage more people to enroll themselves in the donor registry. This will help patients who are currently awaiting lifesaving transplants.

So far, 17 liver transplants have been done at the HMC. Every year, around 20 to 25 patients are added to the waiting list for organ transplants.