GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Bad Liver Does Good for Argentinean Hepatitis Patient

Dennis McCafferty | Date: 01-05-10 | Comments

In a historic medical development, an Argentinean woman with sudden hepatitis was saved after doctors transplanted a "sick" liver inside her, buying enough precious hours until a healthy organ could be located to replace the bad one.

Here�s what happened: Alicia Carmen Torres, 42, came to Hospital Universitario Austral (HUA) on Oct. 22 with a diagnosis of acute hepatitis. Previously, at her home in Cordoba, she turned increasingly yellow after not having any prior symptoms. She went to the hospital and eventually fell into a deep coma, remaining connected to a respirator. Doctors concluded that she was running a high risk of a brain-related death. �She was in need of immediate transplantation,� says Dr. Gustavo Podesta, director of the hospital�s multiorgan transplant unit. �She was at a high risk of having irreversible brain damage.�

Meanwhile, patient Silvia Zapata, 59, underwent successful surgery on Oct. 27 to remove her own liver, which had experienced tumor growths that were taken out during past surgeries but kept coming back. At the time of the Oct. 27 operation, the liver looked "normal." There was no cirrhosis � just two small lesions that could be removed once the organ was cold and blood flow was diverted. Zapata and Torres were both matches for an organ donation because they had the same blood type.

Podesta then concluded that he and his team could try to use Zapata�s diseased liver as a "bridge" to keep Torres alive, even if just for a few hours. The donated liver showed early, good signs of functioning since it formed bile and started to correct Torres� bleeding. Slowly brain pressure was restored. A few hours later, a healthy organ was discovered from a recently deceased donor in Santa Fe. The second transplantation operation took 12 hours, and Torres remained stable throughout. She recovered gradually and came out of her coma three days after the second operation. She was discharged from the hospital less than two weeks after the last surgery.

�The first thing I remember is that I opened my eyes and asked where I was and what day it was,� she says. �When they told me that I had been transplanted twice, I couldn�t believe it.� She and Zapata plan to meet each other one day, given their shared moment in history. For now, Torres is staying in an apartment near the hospital, where she�s monitored for the continued good health of her liver and receives medication. So far, so good. �After two transplants,� she says, �I can say I was born again.�