ParkwayHealth's Living Donor Liver Transplant Program Continues To Meet Patient Demands

Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations
Article Date: 11 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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ParkwayHealth, Asia's leading healthcare provider with the largest network of private hospitals and healthcare services headquartered in Singapore and the first in Asia to perform a living donor liver transplant (LDLT) in 2002, reports that its Gleneagles Hospital has performed over one hundred successful LDLT procedures to date. With the full program in place, the hospital expects to perform about 50 procedures annually.

"Since its inception, the LDLT program has provided an exceptional, quality-focused program, with milestones that include the first pediatric and adult living transfers in Asia," says Thomas Johnsrud, consultant for Parkway Health North America.

LDLT is a procedure in which a diseased liver is replaced with a segment of liver from a healthy human donor, usually a sibling or close family member. Living donor liver transplantation can be performed on anyone with end-stage liver disease regardless of the original cause of their disease.

"The success of liver transplantation at Gleneagles has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of patients who are now being considered for this operation," says Johnsrud, noting that in 2007, there were 17,440 patients waiting for a liver transplant in the United States. "The number of cadaver donors available for transplantation was simply insufficient, a factor which led to the development of the LDLT program."

Gleneagles program director Tan Kai-Chah, M.D., a pioneer in the LDLT procedure, has performed more than 500 liver transplants in Britain, Singapore and Malaysia. He leads the team which comprises experts from various specialties, with expertise and extensive experience in major hepatobiliary and liver transplantation surgery.

With an ongoing and increasing shortage of cadaver livers, transplant centers in Asia have adopted living donation as a partial solution to this shortage. Individuals now recognize that by donating a portion of their liver to a relative, friend or co-worker, they can make give the gift of life.

About ParkwayHealth

ParkwayHealth is Asia's leading healthcare provider with the largest network of private hospitals and healthcare services headquartered in Singapore. Parkway Holdings Limited (PHL) owns Parkway Hospitals Singapore Pte Ltd which runs East Shore Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital and ParkwayHealth Day Surgery and Medical Centre. Over 1500 accredited medical specialists support Parkway's clinical programs in Heart and Vascular, Neuroscience, Oncology, Musculoskeletal, Transplant and Cellular Therapy, Women and Children, Chronic Disease Management and Surgery. Visit http://www.parkwayhealth.com or http://www.parkwayholdings.com.

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