NATION : Liver Transplant Complications

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.