Lam Kin-hung has heard that the transplanted liver was “too big” for his mother’s blood vessels, but coroner rejects theory
JASMINE.SIU@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Monday, 25 April, 2016, 9:54pm
The inquest took place at the Eastern Court, Sai Wan Ho. Photo: David Wong
A grieving son yesterday held on to the belief that a liver transplant killed his mother in 2013, despite a coroner finding that she died of natural causes within two days of the surgery.
The inquest at the Eastern Court followed the death of Lo Ching-lan, 57, at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam after she received a cadaveric liver on May 19.
Coroner Wong Sze-lai ruled on Monday that Lo died naturally from portal pulmonary hypertension, a complication from her cirrhosis, which had prompted the need for a transplant.
“Lo’s cause of death had nothing to do with the surgery,” the coroner said after hearing evidence from ten doctors and three nurses.
Wong extended her condolences to Lo’s son Lam Kin-hung before closing the case, saying she hoped the five-day hearing could help the family understand in greater detail the circumstances of the death.
Lam responded: “If, one day, I have information to show that the size of [the transplanted] liver was unacceptable, will you change your ruling?”
Wong replied that she is not his legal advisor, adding: “If you have a question, you should ask your legal representative.”
Lam had asked during the inquest whether the transplanted liver was suitable for his mother as her condition turned critical overnight after the surgery.
Doctors had since told him the transplanted liver was “too big” for her “thin blood vessels”.
It later emerged in court that the new liver weighed 2,100 grams, which was more than three times the size of her natural one, which weighed 640 grams.
Chief surgeon Dr William Sharr Wei had explained in court that it was the function of the organ that mattered.
Professor Fan Sheung-tat, dubbed “the father of the liver transplant”, meanwhile testified that the transplanted liver would shrink to fit the recipient’s body if it were oversized.
He said Lo may have died from the rare kind of hypertension, which comes in 2 per cent of all liver transplants, but said its cause in this case was unknown except that it was related to her cirrhosis.
It was also said that the symptoms will not show in the autopsy within such a short period of time. But Sharr did recall that Lo’s pulmonary blood pressure was elevated during the operation.
Leaving court, Lam called the diagnosis a piece of “super evidence” that can be applied whenever a patient dies after a liver transplant.
“You cannot examine it from an autopsy,” he said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1938465/son-sees-questions-still-unanswered-after-hong
