NATION : Liver Transplant Complications
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CHICAGO — A girl who received part of her mother’s liver in the nation’s first such living-donor transplant underwent nearly five more hours of surgery today to stop internal bleeding, hospital officials said.
Despite the bleeding, doctors predicted success for Monday’s transplant operations on 21-month-old Alyssa Smith and her mother, Teresa. Specialists say the procedure could relieve a severe shortage of organs for children, many of whom die while awaiting a liver from a cadaver.
During the night Alyssa’s new liver began to bleed, a complication that occurs in about 30% of all liver transplants. The youngster was returned to the operating room before dawn.
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