15 YEARS OF LIVER TRANSPLANT IN INDIA

Sanjay Kandasamy had Undergone a Path-breaking Procedure of Liver Transplant in 1998 as an 18-Month Child at Apollo Hospitals Delhi. Today he completed 15th successful year of survival after Liver Transplant. He is the first to had Liver Transplant in India. Sanjay belongs to Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu was born with a rare condition called biliary atresia, which is seen in 1 in 12000 babies. This is a condition in which there is no connection between the liver and the intestine, so the bile produced in the liver cannot be excreted and therefore damages the liver. These babies develop jaundice a few days after birth and the jaundice progressively increases. An operation to create bile flow, if performed before the age of 2 months can prevent liver failure. Unfortunately in India, most babies with biliary atresia are diagnosed after the age of 3 months, making this operation unsuccessful. This happened in Sanjay's case. Since his condition was deteriorating because of liver failure, his family decided to come to Delhi as a liver transplantation program was being established at Apollo Hospitals Delhi. Sanjay's father came forward to donate a part of his liver to give his son a new lease of life. Sanjay became the first child to undergone a liver transplant in India on 15th November 1998 and made medical history. Dr Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, "The success of the liver transplantation has established the low cost - high quality value proposition that India offers and has enhanced the reputation of Indian healthcare globally. The outcomes are comparable to the best in the West with a cost which is one tenth." According to Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director and Senior Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Apollo Hospitals Group, "Sanjay now leads a completely normal life, goes to school like other kids, enjoys meals, plays football, wants to become a doctor to save lives. Sanjay's success helped establish liver transplantation in India. The Apollo Transplant Program has now performed more than 1500 liver transplants, out of which more than 700 have been performed in the last two years. By performing 1200 solid organ transplants in 2012, the Apollo Transplant Program became the busiest solid organ transplant in the world. Today, we would like to thank Sanjay's family for their faith in us which helped the program achieve this landmark."

About Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, India's first JCI accredited hospital, is a joint venture between the Government of Delhi and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited. Commissioned in July 1996, it is the third super-specialty tertiary care hospital set up by the Apollo Hospitals Group. Spread over 15 acres, it houses 57 specialties with more than 300 specialists and more than 600 operational beds, 19 operation theatres, 138 ICU beds, round-the-clock pharmacy, Over three decades, the Apollo Hospitals group has emerged as Asia's foremost integrated healthcare organizations with 61 hospitals, 1517 pharmacies and 102 diagnostic clinics. Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group was conferred the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in recognition of his unparalleled contribution to healthcare. For 30 years, Apollo Hospitals has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation.