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American Morning
Son Does Partial Liver Transplant to Save Mother
Aired August 28, 2001 - 09:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We turn now to a lifesaving, and increasing popular medical process. A young man is donating 60 percent of his liver to his mother. This through new surgical technique known as a living liver transplant.
Now, this is a relatively new procedure. It's intended to meet a growing problem. Today 18,000 people are in need of new livers in the U.S., but less than 5,000 of the organs will actually be donated upon death.
CNN's Dr. Sanja Gupta is live right now, and as you can see, he's just outside the operating room at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and he brings us the latest.
What's up, Doc?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon. It's exactly as you say, we're here in Georgetown University Hospital in a sterile area, which is why I'm wearing these scrubs. Right behind me, we get an exclusive look at a very unusual operation, a living-related liver transplant.
A healthy son of 27-years of age is donating 60 percent of his liver to his sick mother who has Hepatitis C, and absolutely needs a liver transplant.
Doctors tell us, within eight to 12 weeks, both livers will regenerate almost to full size. It's a really amazing gift. In this case, it's just more than a bouquet of flowers from a son to his mother, it's a gift of life. We talked to them earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK LINTHICUM, LIVER DONOR: My mom is also my best friend, so of course, it stunned me a like a punch in the face. So, I immediately wanted to step in and see what I could do.
DOROTHY LINTHICUM, LIVER RECIPIENT: It's very special, and you know, he's giving me a chance to live longer. Of course, apparently he wants to hold onto me for a little bit longer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: That's right. The surgeons say this operation for the donor, the son in this case, will take until about 3:00. The mother's operation will start about 10:30, and may take until 8:00. Surgeons tell us, that's pretty quick. We have Dr. Muhammad Kalan here who uses a special type of technology known as a harmonic scalpel. He's going to tell us a little bit about that.
Dr. Kalan, tell us a little bit about what the harmonic scalpel is.
DR. MOHAMMAD KALAN, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Well, the harmonic scalpel is a unique tool that converts electrical energy to ultrasonic energy. This ultrasonic energy in turn causes the blades of the scalpel to vibrate at extremely high speeds, as high as 55 thousand times a second. This produces very increased temperature, and the local heat that is produced both seals vessels and cuts it too.
GUPTA: I've heard that these operations, with these livers in particular, can be very bloody. Why is the harmonic scalpel important or necessary with these particular operations?
KALAN: As you very correctly said, the liver is an organ that is extremely richly supplied by blood. And blood loss can be quite significant during these operations.
The harmonic scalpel, one of its greatest advantages is that it is so -- it's such an excellent tool at reducing the blood loss during all kinds of operations.
GUPTA: How much blood loss are we talking about here? If you use a scalpel versus if you don't use a scalpel.
KALAN: Well, we are talking about blood loss during a liver operation can sometimes be several liters of bloods, sometimes. The harmonic scalpel certainly reduces that blood loss significantly.
GUPTA: Right, and a normal human body only has about five liters, right? So.
KALAN: That's true.
GUPTA: What are some of the downsides of using this harmonic scalpel? Are there any disadvantages of using it?
KALAN: I don't think there are any disadvantages as such, other than -- in fact, it's an excellent tool. It cuts, it coagulates, and it reduces the number of instrument changes that you have to make, since it's a multipurpose instrument. But other than cost, there is -- it's only a moderate cost -- there are really no downsides to this instrument.
GUPTA: Well, great. There you have it. Dr. Muhammad Kalan talking about the harmonic scalpel which will be used in today's surgeries.
Leon, back to you. HARRIS: Thanks. Dr. Sanja Gupta. We'll get back to you later on, because we want to check and see how this whole surgery progresses. This is fascinating stuff. All right, see you in a bit, buddy.
GUPTA: Thank you.
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