A unique operation was performed in Kyiv: a liver transplant from a mother with an incompatible blood group was given to a baby

For the first time in Ukraine, an ABO-incompatible liver transplant was performed on a four-month-old child. Photo: National Children's Specialised Hospital Ohmatdyt

An ABO-incompatible liver transplant was performed at the National Children's Specialised Hospital «Okhmatdyt». Four-month-old Maxim received a part of the organ from his mother, despite the fact that they have different blood types.

According to the medical institution, this is the first such operation in Ukraine.

The little patient from Chornobaivka was admitted to the hospital in January with severe symptoms: jaundice, lethargy, an enlarged abdomen and characteristic changes in the colour of urine and faeces. The examination showed a critical condition of the liver — without a transplant, the child had no chance of survival. However, there was not a single donor with the appropriate blood type among the family.

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The doctors decided to take a unique and difficult step - to perform an ABO-incompatible transplant. Such surgeries are rarely performed even in adult medicine, and even less so in paediatrics. Ukraine had no such experience before.

«We knew: either we would wait and lose the child, or we would take a new step for Ukraine. There are moments in medicine when the impossible must be made possible — simply because there is no other way out,» said Anastasia Morozova, a hepatologist.

Maksym received a part of his liver from his mother, who has blood type II, although he has blood type I. To prevent the organ from being rejected, the child underwent a course of plasma replacement and was prescribed immunosuppressive therapy. The doctors carefully monitored the level of antibodies in the baby's body.

The operation lasted more than 20 hours and was successful. The team of doctors performed a full transplant, after which Maksym stayed in the intensive care unit. As of today, the organ is functioning, the child has been discharged home and regularly undergoes follow-up examinations.

«Once again, our doctors proved that nothing is impossible. They created a chance for life where it seemed there was none. Saving a life is a joint effort of a huge team of specialists at «Okhmatdyt», the hospital added.

It is noted that Maxim's father is a soldier who is currently defending the country at the front. Therefore, the rescue of the child became a symbol of the strength and unity of the Ukrainian family — both literally and in a broader sense.

As a reminder, a unique operation to implant an electrode into the heart of a six-month-old child was performed at the Odesa Regional Clinical Hospital.