Filipino boy saved after liver transplant surgery in Shanghai

A 2-year-old Filipino boy, who was in critical condition due to repeated digestive tract bleeding, was saved after doctors at Shanghai's Renji Hospital conducted liver transplant surgery by using part of the organ from the boy's father.

It was the hospital's first liver transplant surgery on a Filipino child, whose treatment drew the attention of ambassadors of both countries.

The boy, nicknamed Nieco, suffered from congenital biliary atresia and experienced bleeding 12 times within six months. He was in very serious condition and the family was desperate.

Biliary atresia can cause cirrhosis and liver damage because the bile passage from the liver to the gallbladder is restricted.

Thanks to a medical cooperation mechanism between China and the Philippines, Renji Hospital and the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Centre in Manila, the Philippines capital, set up an experts' team to handle Nieco's case.

The patient's father volunteered to donate part of his liver. During a six-hour surgery in mid-February, Nieco underwent the transplant. Now, all his life indicators are stable and he will be discharged to return home this week, the hospital said.

According to Dr Xia Qiang, the leading surgeon and president of Renji Hospital, Renji is the world's biggest medical center for children's liver transplant and has finished over 3,800 transplant operations with a highest survival rate worldwide.

"We are pushing the theory that medicine has no boundaries and promoting China's liver transplant skills in southeast Asian countries and regions," he said.

In 2019, Renji initiated an international children's live liver transplant skill training project by reaching cooperation with the University of Malaya Medical Centre in Malaysia. So far, Renji has trained over 50 medical professionals from countries like Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, and jointly carried out Malaysia's first children's live liver transplant surgery. A total of 55 critical sick foreign children have been saved by the project.

Thanks to the success of the surgery, Renji and the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Centre also held a meeting on international medical collaboration on Monday to boost mutual cooperation.

"This surgery on the first Filipino child indicates an upgrade in Sino-Philippines medical cooperation from technology export to system co-construction," Xia noted.

"In the future, both parties will further extend medical technology and resource sharing, medical talent training and digital platform cooperation to boost collaboration on medicine and health care and offer remote group consultation."

Xia also highlighted the importance of promoting international medical tourism and welcomed expatriate patients to come to Shanghai for medical treatment.

Renji Hospital contact on liver transplant

Expatriate patients can contact via e-mail: renji.liver@outlook.com