Chandigarh: The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here, one of the leading medical institutes of northern India, successfully performed its first liver transplant surgery, officials said here Wednesday.
"The first liver transplant was done April 15 and the patient has been kept under close observation. He is fine and the surgery was successful," the official spokesperson of PGIMER said.
The PGIMER was granted conduct of liver transplant surgeries in December 2009.
"The plan was to start with a cadaveric programme, which will be followed by all other liver transplant programmes in a structured manner," the spokesperson added.
According to him, the highly technical surgery went on for nearly eight-and-a-half hours.
The initial two-week period is always critical for patients," he added.
The recipient of the liver was a 44-year-old patient from Uttar Pradesh, who had been suffering from last-stage liver failure.
The donor, a 17-year-old girl, was the victim of a road accident and was declared brain dead by the doctors.
She has given a new lease of life to five people through her liver, both the kidneys and the two corneas.
Thousands of patients from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir visit the PGIMR every day.
IANS