Accelerated rise in patients of chronic liver disease in Punjab

Dr.  Malhi expressed his concerns on situation

Ludhiana: August 20 2016: (Punjab Screen Team):

The team at SPS Hospitals, Ludhiana has successfully performed its first liver transplant surgery. Under the stewardship of Dr. Subash Gupta, Director, Centre for Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, led by Dr. Arindam Ghosh, Senior Consultant, Liver Transplant & G.I. Surgery & Dr. Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi, Senior Consultant & Head, Department of Gastroenterology. As a team they have successfully given a new lease of life to a patient suffering from end stage liver disease, due to chronic HCV infection.

 Dr. Gupta is one of the world’s leading Liver Transplant surgeons and a proud recipient of the Dr. B C Roy award. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Subash Gupta added “Our endeavour has been to offer a comprehensive program that takes care of all liver diseases from babies to the geriatric age group. Thought our foray into Ludhiana, we wish to establish a liver transplant program of repute to serve the people of this region and beyond”

Dr. Arindam Ghosh SPS Hospitals said, “the success of this liver transplant exhibits the high quality, safety, reliability and affordability of our healthcare services. This world class liver transplant program at Ludhiana will not only benefit the people of Punjab but will also cater to the needs of those requiring liver transplants from the neighbouring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan”.

  Dr. Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi expressed his concerns regarding accelerated rise in number of patients of chronic liver disease in Punjab. He informed that Hepatitis C, alcoholism and obesity (metabolic syndrome) are three major culprits for liver damage in our state. According to Dr. Malhi, need for awareness among public, regular testing for disease evaluation and early treatment can reverse/ delay the progression of disease. But in advanced cases, the only ray of hope is liver transplantation.

End stage liver disease is a potentially fatal condition in which there is a progressive loss in liver function over a period of months or years. According to Dr. Arindam Ghosh, in such situations the liver is no longer able to work at a level needed for day-to-day life.

According to Dr. Ghosh, with improvement in surgical techniques this operation ensures safety of both the donor and recipient of liver transplant with excellent short and long term outcomes. He further added that liver donation is absolutely safe and remaining liver of donor as well as the liver donated to recipient regenrates to its normal in few weeks and recipient & donor can lead normal life afterwards.

Commenting on the occasion Dr. Ubaid Hamid, Medical Superintendent, said, “we have established the most up to date and state of the art infrastructure geared towards undertaking successful liver transplants with the highest level of clinical excellence and highest standards of patient safety.

 Patient Swaran Kaur (name changed) was diagnosed as decompensated chronic liver disease due to Hepatitis C virus infection. She was admitted multiple times due to various complications. Her chances of survival beyond 3 months looked very bleak due to her advanced liver disease. After proper councelling her daughter Jaspreet Kaur(name changed) gave her half of her liver for living donor liver transplant for her mother.Both recipient mother and donor daughter recovered well after surgery.

SPS Hospitals,Ludhiana have started Liver clinic where chronic liver disease patients will be jointly seen by Medical gastroenterology & Hepatology and Liver Transplant Team and will be given state of art world class treatment.