One liver, two lives: Single organ transplant saves two

Hatice Senses

ISTANBUL (AA) - Two patients with organ deficiency clung to life with the same donated organ in Turkey’s metropolitan Istanbul.

Diagnosed with cancer last year, Ali Guven Esin, 63, applied for the liver transplant he needed to survive.

Meanwhile, a four-year-old toddler unable to adapt to the liver transplanted from the mother two and a half years ago was also added to the transplant list.

The anxious wait came to an end when the phone rang with the good news that a liver from a recently-deceased donor would be sufficient for both Esin and the child.

Under the leadership of Dr. Turan Kanmaz, the team simultaneously transplanted the liver to the patients.

Kanmaz told Anadolu Agency that the liver was enough to be transplanted to both an adult and a minor.

"Both patients came through with one organ," Kanmaz said, adding: "Our 63-year-old patient was found to have had Cirrhosis due to alcohol as well as cancer following tests on liver. Another pediatric patient underwent a liver transplant before, and for a second time due to graft loss."

"Both are in good health now," he added.

Ali Guven Esin said he had no chance to find donors from his family and that he now better understood the importance of organ donation.

"My luck helped, and when I received a call at 6.30 a.m. on April 2, I left myself in the hands of those valuable experts," Esin said.

"I was asked if I could share a portion of the liver taken from a cadaver, with a 4-year-old child. I accepted and signed the necessary documents, and the surgery was started," he added.

According to Turkey’s Health Ministry, over 26,500 patients are currently on the organ transplant waiting list.

Over 31,000 transplant operations were carried out from living people and cadavers since 2008, the report added.

*Writing and Contribution by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur