BGS Global Hospitals, the 500-bed facility of the Hyderabad-based Global Hospitals Group has opened a dedicated Center for Cancers of the Liver & Pancreas.

The Center is fully geared to handle complex Hepato Pancreaticobiliary surgeries, liver resections, laparascopic procedures, radiofrequency ablation, tumour enucleation, end-stage liver diseases and all pancreatic, gall bladder & bile duct disorders. There is a full-fledged team of hepatologists, intensivists and liver transplant surgeons. The facility is equipped with the latest diagnostic equipment including 64-slice CT scan, MRI & MRCP and a dedicated liver ICU with 12 beds, Transplant ICU, continuous veno-venous haemofiltration [CVVH] making it the largest in the state.

This Centre is part of the Group’s Rs. 1,000 crore investment slated in 2008 to create the infrastructure for organ and cancer care among others.

Currently, Liver and Pancreatic cancer is the fifth highest cancer after cervical, breast, oral and brain cancer. It is difficult to treat liver and pancreatic cancer because of being unresponsive to chemotherapy and patients land up in an advanced stage of the disease, said Dr K Ravindranath, chairman and managing director, Global Hospitals Group.

Global Hospitals has performed over 100 liver transplants at its group facilities at Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. Three of these were cadaver liver transplants performed at BGS Global Hospitals, Bangalore which also has the country’s first centre for metastatic liver disease. We have also carried out the largest number of cadaver liver transplants in the country with good outcomes on par with the best centres in the world, he added.

Recently, BGS performed the third liver transplant surgery for a hepatitis B +ve patient who had end-stage liver disease with multiple complications. The 8-hour surgery was carried out by a 20 member team headed by Dr Mohamed Rela, chief transplant surgeon, Global Hospitals Group. The patient was on a normal diet in just two days after surgery. His post operative recovery was smooth and fast.

Shekariah, the patient from Tumkur district, had multiple problems of cirrhosis portal hypertension, hepatitis B infection and primary liver tumour. The patient had accumulation of fluid in the abdomen, swollen feet and mental disorientation. He was admitted to different hospitals in the last 6 months and had many attacks of hepatic encephalopathy which ultimately led to end stage liver disease. Although the patient’s brother consented to donate his liver and BGS Global was gearing up to use only a part of the liver, he received a O+ve cadaver liver.

According to Dr N K Venkataramana, vice-chairman, BGS Global Hospitals, the effort is a medical feat for the first time in Karnataka considering the complexity of the surgery. A combination of factors including excellent teamwork by experienced surgeons, hepatologists, intensivists, technicians and paramedical staff together with advanced liver ICU & infrastructure at BGS Global Hospitals contributed to the success and speedy recovery of the patient.