Three young Iraqi siblings suffering from a rare genetic disorder which required their livers to be transplanted were successfully operated upon, doctors here said Tuesday.
Ibrahim, 4, Sozan, 10, and Lozan, 11, were diagnosed with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) wherein bile (a fluid made by the liver which helps in digestion) cannot flow to the duodenum (first portion of the small intestine).
It begins in infancy and usually progresses to liver cirrhosis (scarring of the liver as a result of continuous, long-term damage) within the first decade of life.
"This was a rare case and very few such cases have been reported in the medical literature. This is for the first time that we come across a family wherein all their young children were suffering from PFIC," said Vivek Vij, director, surgery and liver transplant at Fortis Hospital, Noida, who led the team of surgeons.
He said it took nearly 12 hours for each transplant.
According to Vij, the three donors were family members.
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"It has been the most challenging phase of our lives and I am glad that it has been a happy ending for our family. We are thankful to the doctors who have saved all our three children," said the mother Bushraabsullah Ahmed.
Two transplant surgeries were carried out in June and one in July. After remaining under observation for a week, the children were discharged and are ready to go back to Iraq.