BMU plans to execute 4 liver transplantations a month

Bangladesh Medical University (BMU) has taken steps to expand liver transplant treatment in the country. The institution currently performs two liver transplants a month. It plans to raise that to four a month by the end of next year, and in the long term it wants to carry out one surgery every week.

Dr Md Saif Uddin, an associate professor in BMU’s Department of Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Liver Transplantation Surgery, said liver transplant is becoming part of regular medical care. Two such operations are currently performed each month.

A team of specialists from 19 university departments conducts the surgeries. Professor Bidhan C Das, chairman of the department concerned, said a transplant may be needed to save a patient’s life in end-stage liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, or complete or severe liver failure. After a successful operation and proper follow-up treatment, patients have a chance of returning to normal life.

Records show a total of 13 liver transplants in the country since 2010. Of these, eight were performed at BMU, three at BIRDEM Hospital and two at Labaid Hospital. BMU started the programme under its own management in 2019.

According to the university, the latest six liver transplants were carried out free of cost with government funding. Of these six recipients, five are alive and one died of an infection. Four other recipients who underwent transplants earlier are doing well. Doctors put BMU’s liver transplant success rate at about 90 percent. The institution plans two more transplants on October 30 and 31.