LIVER TRANSPLANT IN INDIA IS CHEAP AND SAFER NOW

Liver transplants expensive but 95% life-saving " LUCKNOW: Three years ago, 48-year-old Rajesh Puri underwent a liver transplant after he was detected with chronic hepatitis C with cirrhosis of liver. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2004 and was on medication for the next five years. When his condition deteriorated in 2009, doctors advised a liver transplant. "There was no other way to save my life,'' said Rajesh who is now living a healthy life after his wife Rita donated part of her liver to save him. The liver transplant cost them Rs 25 lakh. Rajesh is not the only one to have faced extreme situation due to ill health. There are thousands others forced to undergo a liver transplant. The challenge with 90% of the liver diseases, say doctors, is that patients don't realise they have it until it's late. What's worse is that cost of treatment for liver ailments especially in later stages is exorbitant." SOURCE::::http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-17/lucknow/35867741_1_liver-transplant-liver-diseases-s-soin

LIVER TRANSPLANT CO-ORDINATOR INDIA

Liver Transplant proves to be a BOON OF LIFE if it is done for the right reasons, at the right time, by the right people and of the eligible patient. But most of the patients are unprepared for this major operation. They get misguided by inadequate, unsubstantiated and sometimes misleading information. Such information is available through the internet and propaganda done on behalf of Liver Transplant Centers. To get the best result out of this life-saving procedure of Liver Transplant, it is advised to have complete information related to this field. The patient, his family members, caretakers and well-wishers must be fully aware about various Liver Transplant Hospitals, Surgeons, Doctors, Success-rates, Cost, Post Liver Transplant Life, Medicines and their side effects etc. etc. The author of this website Jyotsna Verma(Chief Liver Transplant Coordinator) worked as a Senior Transplant Coordinator in renowned centers of Liver Transplant in India with reputed surgeons (Dr.A.S.Soin, Dr. Subash Gupta etc.). She has an experience of dealing with about 11000 liver disease patients and has personally coordinating more than 700 liver transplants in India. Through her Liver Transplant Consultation Services, she wants to provide the benefits of her experience to all the patients in need for Liver Transplant. She has not not restricted herself to a single Liver Transplant Team, Center or Area. In past Decade, India has become an attraction for Medical Tourism specially because of 'Low Cost and High Success Rate Liver Transplant'. The cost of Liver Transplant Surgery in India varies between 10 to 30 Lacs Rupees (INR) which is about 1/6th of the cost of Liver Transplant Surgery abroad. A new Liver gives a new life and a well informed decision gives a successful Liver Transplant and complete satisfaction to the patient. The Patient and his family need to have proper Guidance and Education regarding Liver Disease and Liver Transplant procedure before going for this major undertaking. The author wants to help, guide and educate such patients through her experience as a Liver Transplant Coordinator and to share the moments faced by the patients in their Pre, Peri and Post transplant Period. Many times during her services she came across the end-stage liver disease patients and the families of Fulminant Liver Failure patients. They were not understanding the need of Liver Transplant and were running away from life thinking that liver disease was the END. There are many queries and misconceptions in their minds which need to be addressed by a person with authentic knowledge of the liver transplant scenario in India and abroad. The author provides detailed counseling and education regarding Medical, Legal and Financial issues related to Liver Transplant procedure and life after Liver Transplant. Coming out of the operation theatre or the hospital after liver transplant operation is not the end of the story. Post Transplant Period is extremely important and requires education about post-transplant lifestyle and care. Many precautions have to be followed for a healthy, normal lifestyle afterwards. The patient with a transplanted liver can expect a normal life in terms of health, activity and vigor BUT some basic precautions, anti-rejection drugs and periodic follow-up with Liver Transplant Team will continue for life SOURCE::::http://www.livertransplantconsultant.com/

CHEAPER AND SAFE LIVER TRANSPLANT IN INDIA

KOLKATA: Liver transplants could get easier and cheaper in the next 5-7 years and help to save at least 5000 patients in West Bengal annually. Diseases like cirrhosis of liver in adults and biliary atresia in children account for around 2500 deaths every year. Once patients are made aware of transplant and its benefits, it can be treated more effectively and help curb mortality rate to a great extent, says Anupam Sibal, Delhi-based paediatric gastro-eneterologist. A member of the medical team that conducted the first liver transplant in India thirteen years ago, Sibal visited Kolkata on behalf of the Children's Liver Disease Awareness and Support Programme ( CLASP). "While in USA a transplant costs around Rs 1.2 crore, it is only around Rs 20 lakh for an adult and Rs 12 lakh for a child in India. With more and more clinical instruments being manufactured in India, the costs are coming down further. What we now need is a greater awareness. We need to tell people how liver diseases could be prevented. Then, they should be told how transplants make it possible for patients to lead a normal and healthy life," said Sibal. The first transplant had been done on an 18-month-old child in Kancheepuram way back in 1998. The child Sanjay Kandaswamy is now a 13-year-old boy. "Sanjay is the ambassador of liver transplantation and his story has inspired hundreds of patients with liver failure to opt for a transplant," added Sibal, who had conducted the transplant along with five others. While just 80 transpalnts were done over the next seven years, scores are happening every week now. "Organ transplant is yet to take off in a big way in India, but liver transplants are being done at a fair rate. There is scope for more. The liver has eight parts, of which 2-4 parts could be replaced with that of a blood relative. While it takes 10 days for the donor to regain fitness, the patient is usually released in three weeks," explained Sibal. About 50% of the transplants in children are needed due to biliary atresia - a condition in which there is no connection between the liver and the intestine. Hepatitis B, C, alcohol and liver cancer are the common causes of liver failure in adults. "If a baby has jaundice within two weeks of birth, a liver failure can't be ruled out. But low awareness, even among the medical community, often results in neglect. I have come across hundreds of cases where the liver could have been saved with proper treatment. In adults, there is a fear associated with transplant. arranging for a donor is a big problem. Since cadaver transplantations are not yet frequent in India, blood relatives are the only option. Often, they are not ready to undergo the surgery. We have to convince them that they are not giving away the entire organ," said Sibal. SOURCE:---http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-12/kolkata/30619451_1_liver-transplant-transplant-costs-organ-transplant

COMPETITION EFFETS MOS COMPLEX LIVER SURGERY

More competition between medical centers that perform liver transplants may mean sicker patients get lower-quality donor organs, according to a U.S. study. When more than one center has patients on the same donor list, the centers have an incentive to get organs for as many of their own patients as possible, wrote researchers, whose report appeared in Liver Transplantation. So doctors are more likely to take the first available organ when their patient is at the top of the transplant list, whether or not that pairing has the best chance to succeed, rather than risk the organ will go to another center. "There is the question whether competition decreases the ability of a center to better match donor and recipient characteristics," wrote John Paul Roberts, from the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues. They analyzed data on more than 38,000 liver recipients who had transplants from non-living donors between 2003 and 2009. The transplants were done at 112 medical centers in 47 so-called distribution areas - some covered by only one center and some that relayed organs to multiple transport centers. Roberts and his colleagues found "clinically important differences" showing patients who received organs were initially worse off, with a higher risk of dying or having their transplant fail, in areas that had more medical centers in competition for the same organs. For example, 10 percent of patients who received organs at centers with no competition had the worst scores for liver disease severity pre-transplant, compared to more than 28 percent of those in the high-competition distribution areas. FOR MORE...SEE BELOW LINK... SOURCE:---http://www.indianexpress.com/news/competition-affects-who-gets-a-liver-transplant-study/1055604

MEDANTA MEDICITY--LIVER TRANSPLANT UNIT

The Medanta Institute of Liver Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine is Asia's first of its kind, dedicated Institute offering liver transplantation and all other levels of treatment for liver and biliary diseases including cancer, both in adults and children. The goal is to follow global norms for evidence-based best practice, at the same time striving for innovation of safer and more effective treatments. Patient cure with a human touch is the principal goal of the Institute. The team with an experience of more than 700 liver transplants in India runs the country's largest and the world's second largest (live donor) liver transplant program. The Institute of Liver Transplantation boasts of one of the world's highest success rates (95%) and lowest infection rates in liver transplantation, with a unique 21-point liver donor safety protocol. In addition, ccomplex non-transplant liver and bile duct surgery is done for hepatobiliary disease in both adults and children. It is also a high volume referral centre for all types of liver lumps, bile duct cancer, cysts and blocks. The Institute is committed to a scientific, compassionate & a patient-friendly approach. The ethos is one of an undying quest to innovate safer and more effective treatments for our patients, and to serve as a teaching and mentoring Institute. SOURCE::---http://www.medanta.org/liver_transplantation.aspx