New life saving liver treatment performed on baby at King's College Hospital
Last updated 11/18/2011 8:43:21 AM
New life saving liver treatment performed on baby at King's College Hospital
Little Iyaad Syed from East London has become the first patient in the world to be treated with a new, life saving liver treatment.
The new treatment involved injecting donor liver cells (encased in a special, protective material) into Iyaad's abdomen after his own liver had started to fail due to a virus.
The successful treatment at King's College Hospital, London, meant Iyaad did not need to undergo a liver transplant.
This is the first time in the world that donor liver cells have been used in this way. Iyaad is now recovering well and his own liver is functioning normally.
His father Jahangeer said the change in his son was a ‘miracle':
"He is now sitting up and smiling, and behaving like any normal six month old," Jahangeer said. "It was a very difficult time when he first arrived – he was unconscious for a number of days whilst the doctors kept him under observation. We spent all our time at the hospital, and we thought he would need a transplant – fortunately, his liver has recovered and we feel very lucky to be in the position we are in today. It's a miracle'."
The technique was developed at King's for clinical use by Professor Anil Dhawan and Dr Ragai Mitry.