Attaullah Baloch, the first to undergo living donor liver transplant surgery at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences’ (Pims) died of complications.
The cause of his death was hepatorenal syndrome, according to a member of the team which performed the surgery, requesting anonymity.
Baloch had recovered after the surgery but developed some complications. He underwent a second operation on May 7, during which his hepatic artery was ruptured which resulted in renal failure.
Pims spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja, however, said Baloch, 36, was put on the ventilator on May 7 after he died and on May 8, he was pronounced dead. “His body was immediately handed over to his family on Tuesday night.”
When asked to comment on the cause of the patient’s death, he said, “It is too early to say what caused Baloch’s death, but he died due to complications.”
Dr Khawaja claimed that the surgery cost around Rs5 million which was donated by the government. Baloch came from Khuzdar, Balochistan and was the first patient to receive a live donor liver transplant at the hospital’s Liver Transplant Centre on May 2.
Baloch underwent surgery after his wife donated a portion of her liver. He was suffering from hepatitis B which developed into chronic liver disease.
The surgery, carried out by a team of British and Pakistani surgeons, started early morning on May 2 and ended at 2am the next day.
After the surgery, the staff, somehow, failed to administer medicines, including antibiotic injections, to Baloch on time, which annoyed the British surgeon, said sources in the centre.
The team of local surgeons did not have a single qualified liver surgeon. The one heading the unit is a general surgeon.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2012.
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after going through your article i am extreamly disappointed and sad because it lacks truth n in-depth realization. at first hepatic artery along with all others vessels were perfectly normal. his transplanted liver was normally functioning even at the time of death. he was absolutely normal, he was drinking juice when he suddenly collapsed. furthermore, giving antibiotics not on time is totally funny as nothing happened like that at all. i think the member of the team mentioned must be working in house keeping as these so called facts are in layman terms n totally baseless. on the other hand, the team of surgeons has been doing liver surgeries more complicated than liver transplant. the family of baloch has been given full moral support. they already told by all the related doctors in country that he wont survive more than 2 to three months owing to his end stage liver disease. all of us were informed at all stages regarding his condition and every member did his best ,family specially wife is very satisfied and in future the nation will see how the balich family would be taken care off. in the end i pray and wish best of luck for the transplant team at pims and request them not to be demoralised but to come back strongly to help this poor nation.