Father donates liver lobe and later a kidney to ailing son

Father donates liver lob

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
liver transplant 248.88 (photo credit: )
liver transplant 248.88
(photo credit: )
A 47-year-old man from the village of Ibelin in the Galilee and his 19-year-old son, who just received a kidney and six months ago a liver lobe from his father, are both functioning very well, the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus announced on Tuesday. It was the first such double sequential organ donation and transplant in Israel and one of the few cases in the world, said the hospital. The young man suffered from a genetic metabolic disease, which caused the lack of an important liver enzyme. This resulted in the accumulation of crystals in the kidneys, causing them irreversible damage and the need for kidney dialysis twice a week. The transplant of both organs was required to save his life. Although the father, Hasnin Ata, gave a lobe of his liver in June, it has already grown back to 90 percent of its original size. He completely recovered from his first operation and was thus able now to give one of his kidneys. Professor Eitan Mor, head of the hospital's transplant department, said that until now, patients with the genetic disease who needed two organs received them from deceased donors. "I hope that the father's donation will help promote willingness of the living to donate organs they don't need. Without the two organs, the young man would have been forced to wait for a long time for donations from deceased donors," said Mor. "In addition, two organs from one donor are accepted by the body better than if they had come from two different people. The liver protects the kidney from rejection, and there is more chance for the kidney to survive for a longer time," he added. The donor's wife told The Jerusalem Post that she was very grateful to the Rabin Medical Center for its efforts to save her son's life.