(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
A team of ten leading doctors and nurses from South Korea flew-in to join surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and technicians from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) for Qatar's first live-donor liver transplant surgery, conducted late last year.
Two months after undergoing the lifesaving transplant surgery, 58-year-old Zaid is now comfortably recovering at his home in Doha. He says he owes his life to the combined team specialists who seamlessly orchestrated two complex surgeries in perfect step, despite living thousands of miles apart and not having worked together before.
The experts spent 20 hours in the operation theatre at Hamad General Hospital. First, the team did a partial resection of the Zaid's 26-year-old nephew's, the donor, liver, which took some eight hours. The team then removed Zaid's liver damaged due to cirrhosis and implanted the donated portion of the liver into his body, which took nearly 12 hours.
'I am so grateful to all the surgeons, physicians and nurses who participated in my transplant procedure and looked after me. The care I received was excellent, Zaid said, adding that he is looking forward to returning to his normal life in the near future.
The team from Korea, comprising doctors and nurses from Asan Medical Centre (AMC), were instrumental in the success of the surgery, highlighting the importance of international collaborations. The November surgery was the culmination of many weeks of planning and dedication, which included a small team from Qatar spending a week in Korea receiving training in living donor liver transplantation and members of the Korean team extending their time in Qatar to assist with monitoring the status of the patients after the transplantation.
South Korea is a world leader in organ transplantation, carrying out more than 1,200 liver transplants each year. The country has one of the highest liver transplantation success rates in the world. While the first living donor liver transplantation in the Arab world was conducted twenty-five years ago, only a limited number of liver transplants are completed in the region each year. To date, HMC has performed 17 transplants, with this most recent being the country's first living donor liver transplantation.
The living donor liver transplant surgery was conducted in conjunction with the first Qatar-Korea Medical Forum. Nineteen leading doctors and nurses from South Korea, along with surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and technicians from HMC, participated in the Forum.
During the visit, five more surgeries (orthopaedics and cardiology) were completed as part of a collaborative relationship between HMC and the two South Korean hospitals, Asan Medical Centre (AMC) and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital (SSMH). The three organizations are exploring potential areas of collaboration in healthcare, research, and training as part of HMC's commitment to providing patients with access to the best possible care.
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