New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): A private hospital in New Delhi has achieved a global milestone by performing life-saving living donor liver transplants on 23-month-old twin brothers from the Philippines – the first paediatric twin liver transplant among the hospital’s 645 paediatric liver transplants to date.
The complex back-to-back surgeries were led by Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director & Senior Paediatric Gastroenterologist, and Dr. Neerav Goyal, Senior Consultant & Head of Liver Transplant Surgery.
A release said that the twins, Tyler and Kelly, were born prematurely, weighing 2 kg and 2.4 kg, bringing hope to a family that had earlier experienced the loss of an infant. However, within two weeks of birth, both babies developed persistent jaundice and pale-coloured stools.
Evaluation revealed a congenital biliary disorder – Choledochal Cyst Type IVA (a rare birth defect in which the bile ducts become abnormally enlarged, leading to severe liver damage if left untreated), which rapidly progressed to liver failure in both children.
Over the following months, the twins endured recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal fluid accumulation, poor growth and repeated hospitalisations.
Despite receiving the best possible medical care, their condition continued to worsen, leaving liver transplantation as the only life-saving treatment.
The challenge extended beyond the surgeries. Identifying two suitable living liver donors for siblings requiring transplantation within days of each other is exceptionally rare. While the children’s mother donated a portion of her liver to one twin, their father was medically unfit to donate.
The twins’ maternal uncle then volunteered to donate to the second child, making both transplants possible. Throughout the recovery, the father cared for his wife, his brother-in-law and both children during the recovery period.
Transplant and Surgical Gastroenterology Senior Consultant Dr Neerav Goyal told ANI that twenty per cent of the liver was harvested from both the mother and the uncle.
“Two children, Tyler and Kelly, from the Philippines, recently underwent liver transplants. What made this case unique was that they are twins and both suffered from a condition called choledochal cyst. This condition caused liver failure in both children. It is extremely rare for twins to share the exact same problem… When their parents first approached us, they were informed about the transplant option, and both parents offered to be donors. Unfortunately, the father was not medically fit; consequently, the mother and her brother, the children’s maternal uncle, donated portions of their livers,” he said.
“Twenty per cent of the liver was harvested from both the mother and the uncle… This is an extremely rare condition, occurring in about one in 100,000 children; furthermore, only 10 per cent of those cases progress to the kind of liver failure requiring a transplant. Both children are now healthy and can lead normal lives… The procedure is successful in both cases because the liver regenerates, growing back in both the donor and the recipient,” he added.
Commenting on the case, Shivakumar Pattabhiraman, Managing Director, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said that behind every complex transplant is a family looking for hope.
“We are humbled that this family travelled from the Philippines and entrusted us with the care of both their children. The successful outcome reflects the strength of our multidisciplinary teams and Apollo’s commitment to delivering advanced, compassionate care for patients facing the most complex medical challenges,” he said, accoridng to the release.
Dr. Anupam Sibal said liver transplants in twins are rare and for both children to need a liver transplant at the same time is even rarer.
“Out of 645 paediatric liver transplants performed at Apollo, this is the first set of twins. Both the babies were small and that made the transplants even more challenging. Starting with the first successful liver transplant in India at Apollo Hospital Delhi in 1998 we have now performed very complex transplants – combined liver kidney transplants, transplant in babies weighing 3.5 kg and ABO incompatible transplants (where the blood group of the donor and recipient do not match). Kelly and Tyler are such a powerful example of Born Together, Fought Together and Saved Together.” (ANI)
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