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.

Every 1 out of 12 people across the world affected by hepatitis

Wed, Jul 27, 2016 at 4:32 PM
Hepatitis C is still commonest cause of liver damage

Ludhiana: July 28th 2016: (Punjab Screen Bureau):

The Department of Gastroenterology at SPS Hospitals organized a week long free screening camp on the occasion of “World Hepatitis Day”. More than 600 people were screened during this activity.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr.Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi, Senior Consultant & Head, Department of Gastroenterology said, “The theme for the World Hepatitis Day 2016 is “Know Hepatitis - Act now”. With every 1 out of 12 people across the world affected by hepatitis, it should not be ignored. Hepatitis C is the major concern for us.  Hepatitis C remains asymptomatic in initial stages in majority of the patients. Moreover untreated chronic hepatitis C increases the risk of liver damage and liver cancer. India though has a low to moderate prevalence of HCV infection but accounts for a significant share of HCV infection worldwide due to its large population. The Punjab state needs an exclusive mention as HCV infection has been reported to be much higher when compared to many other states. Most of the Punjabis are unaware of their hepatitis C status due to lack of symptoms in the early phase. Importantly, still there is no vaccine against hepatitis C, so prevention by adopting universal precautions and regular screening to detect early cases remains the key.”

Dr Vikramjeet S Sandhu from Gastroenterology added that sharing of infected needles/syringes by drug addicts is the major source of continued HCV transmission in the state now. Tattooing and body piercing, sharing razors and toothbrushes, recipient of unscreened blood /blood products , hemodialysis patients and HIV infected persons are at increased risk of getting infected by hepatitis C.

Dr Amit Soni , Gastroenterologist at SPS hospitals further disclosed that hepatitis C is still one of the commonest cause of liver damage and liver cancer in Punjab.    Dr Amit announced that on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day , all the people who have been found to be hepatitis C positive in week long screening will be invited , educated and counseled for free. According to Dr Malhi “Innovation in the field of Hepatitis C treatment has been swift and incredible. Interferon (Injection) free treatment has been available in India since March 2015. The new all oral antiviral treatment  is not just very safe , successful (> 95%cure)  and acceptable to patients, but they have further extended the patient groups in whom these can be used.”

Dr Ubaid , Medical Superintendent, revealed that Gastroenterology department under the leadership of Dr Malhi has been actively involved in organizing frequent free hepatitis screening camps and awareness lectures in Ludhiana and surrounding regions. Such small steps if taken by all the responsible health professionals are bound to bring big change in Punjab.