DTMT Network
BENGALURU: Aster Hospital in Bengaluru has claimed that it has successfully performed India’s first live liver transplant on a Jehovah's Witness from Nigeria by not using blood or blood products, in order to protect the patient's religious beliefs.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are followers of a Christian faith that prohibits the use of blood or blood products during their treatment.

A Jehovah's Witness, Gehojadak, 39, had developed decompensate liver disease and visited many countries seeking treatment over the last four years but was turned away due to the highly risky nature of surgery, Aster CMI Hospital said.

The surgery was challenging compared with a normal liver transplant because in order to protect the patient's religious beliefs, the medical team could not use blood or blood products, the Hospital said in a release, adding that very few such surgeries have been successfully conducted worldwide.

The patient's brother was the donor. Aster CMI Hospital said, adding, without a liver transplant, Gehojadak's chances of survival were less than 10 per cent over the next two years.

"This transplant was especially challenging as we did not have the safety net even if the patient's life was at risk due to their advance directive. We have performed other non-transplant liver surgeries in Jehovah's Witnesses and this gave us the confidence to take on Gehojadak's transplant," said Dr Rajiv Lochan, consultant liver transplant surgeon at the Hospital.

The surgery was completed in 12-hours by two teams of specialists with close to 25 doctors, including anaesthetists and intensivists, who worked in absolute sync with each other and Gehojadak finally received a life-saving liver transplant, he said.

The patient and his brother were fit enough to go home and were discharged from the hospital within two weeks.