Scripps Clinic Performs 2nd Transplant of Liver

Scripps Clinic surgeons performed their second liver transplant early Friday morning.

The transplant into a 61-year-old Whittier woman took six hours beginning at 12:30 a.m. The patient, Bonnie O’Brien, was listed in critical condition after the operation. She is expected to remain in the hospital for at least three weeks, said Scripps spokeswoman Sue Pondrom.

O’Brien needed the transplant because of primary biliary cirrhosis. This irreversible obstruction of the bile ducts occurs after they become inflamed for reasons that are unknown. The disease most commonly affects women between 35 and 60 years old.

Scripps’ first liver transplant ended tragically July 26 when the donated liver failed to function once connected to the 47-year-old recipient. The man died.

That operation was the first liver transplant to occur in San Diego since two earlier programs, at UC San Diego Medical Center and Sharp Memorial Hospital, were suspended because nine of 10 patients died during or shortly after surgery.

Nationwide, 70% of liver transplant patients survive a year after surgery.