Parents Donate ‘Brain Dead' Girl's Organs

The liver of an 11 year-old girl who was declared ‘brain dead' was transplanted to a 59-year-old man at Kamineni Hospitals. Shankari Thyagarajan of BPDAV School in Midhani in Hyderabad was a brain cancer patient and Kamineni doctors said the transplant was carried out with the consent of her parents.

Shankari's eyes were donated to LV Prasad Eye Institute and one each of her kidneys to Kamineni and Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences.

Kamineni officials refused to provide any details of Shankari's parents stating that they did not wish to be identified.

The liver transplant surgery was performed in the second week of October, when Shankari was declared ‘brain died'. Doctors revealed details on Wednesday after the recovery of the recipient, Purushottam Bhai Kanji Bhai, a retired engineer from Surat, Gujarat.

Dr G. Satyanarayana who headed the transplantation team, said Mr Kanji was suffering from hepatitis B and cirrhosis. "He had developed a liver tumour that was spreading," the doctor said.

Mr Kanji had registered himself at Delhi, another hospital in the city as well as with Kamineni Hospitals.

Dr Satyanarayana said, "Shankari was treated in major cancer hospitals for six months. She was in a terminal stage and admitted to our hospital while unconscious."

"Experts who were not part of the transplantation team confirmed that Shankari was brain dead. The parents offered to donate the organs of Shankari's body," Dr Satyanarayana said.

Dr Satyanarayana said the hospital searched for a recipient of Shankari's age. They didn't find one. Following this, they checked out their waiting lists and spotted Mr Kanji who achieved a tissue match.

Mr Kanji was admitted on the day of the surgery. "Shankari was well built and her liver was well grown at 4 kg. Mr Kanji is short in physical stature and his liver had shrunk. We thought there may be a problem with the arteries but everything went well. The liver suited him well," Dr Satyanarayana said.

"Shankari's school principal came to us on Wednesday during the discharge of Mr Kanji. The school had organised an awareness campaign earlier on organ donation, in which Shankari had participated," he said.

Dr Satyanarayana explained that under the Organ Donation Act the consent of close family members was necessary in case of brain dead persons. If any one of the family members refuses, the transplant cannot be carried out. "In this case both parents gave consent," said Dr Satyanarayana.

Dr Satyanarayana said that the hospital got permission from the Directorate of Medical Education to conduct the organ transplantation.

Directorate of Medical Education incharge chief Dr A.V.Y. Chary who heads the organ transplantation committee in the State was not available for comment.

Source-Medindia
SRM/M