But doctors stress that organs from the deceased are always preferable
EMILY TSANGemily.tsang@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 03 September, 2015, 12:01am
UPDATED : Thursday, 03 September, 2015, 12:01am
Ho Sin-yee with her husband Chan Kwok-man, who received two-thirds of her liver in a transplant, at their home in Tsing Yi. Photo: Felix Wong
A woman who gave two-thirds of her liver to her husband said the life-saving transplant was worth the risk and urged others to help a dying liver patient in urgent need of a new organ.
But doctors warned that one in 200 donors die from such donations, stressing that an organ received from a deceased donor would always be preferable.
Such a glimmer of hope came briefly but soon slipped away on Tuesday after the family of a brain-dead patient refused to donate his organs.
"It is unfortunate … We are very disappointed," said Queen Mary Hospital's top liver transplant expert, Professor Lo Chung-mau. "The blood type of the deceased patient matched that of the male liver patient."
The patient in need of a graft, Stephen Lee, 46, was still in a critical condition after a transplant last week was aborted at Pok Fu Lam hospital. Doctors cut open his stomach but stopped the operation when it emerged the liver donor had cancer.
A spokesman said the hospital received hundreds of calls seeking information on helping Lee, but most callers were being screened out due to their age and health condition.
"Sometimes when I spoke louder, he would move his forehead. When I asked him to wink if he would like to see any friends, he would move slowly," said Lee's wife, who believed her husband was getting stronger.
Dr Albert Chan Chi-yan, a colleague of Lo's at the University of Hong Kong's department of surgery, said there was considerable risk in live donors giving up their liver, with a fatality rate of 0.5 per cent and a 20 per cent chance of complications such as infection.
If the donor is giving away one side of his or her liver, around three months are needed for the remaining organ to adjust and function normally. Live donor liver transplants are also more complex, Chan said, requiring two teams of surgeons to work at the same time.
Past liver donor Ho Sin-yee, a 53-year-old housewife, appealed to the public to help Lee find a new liver.
She said she did not regret her decision in 1995 to donate two-thirds of her liver to her husband, Chan Kwok-man, when he desperately needed a new one following his cirrhosis.
"I did not think about the danger at all and not much consideration is needed," Ho told the Post. "All I wanted was to save my husband's life."
Both recovered well without complications, and Chan still works in construction.
A hospital spokesman said an ideal donor for Lee would be between 18 and 55, possess blood type O+, enjoy good health and be free of hepatitis.
He added that donors should enjoy the support of their family and pass a psychological test by medics.
Anyone who can help can call the hospital on 2255 3111. About 94 people are waiting for livers at Hong Kong's public hospitals.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1854865/take-it-me-hong-kong-housewife-who-gave-two-thirds
