Sibling liver graft a medical first for Quebec
Last Updated Fri, 25 Feb 2005 15:50:18 EST
CBC News

MONTREAL - A man has his sister to thank for his live-donor liver
transplant that made history in Quebec.

Until now, only livers from cadavers were used for transplants in the
province.

The rare, complicated transplant is available in Ontario, Alberta and
British Columbia, but it's been done only 35 times in Canada.

Patrick Amyot, 33, thanks his younger sister, Marie-Annick, for saving
his life. He had hepatitis C, a disease that destroys the liver. He
risked dying of liver failure.

"I gave it a lot of thought," said 29-year-old Marie-Annick. "But I
took that decision because of what I believe in, because of what I went
through in my life and also because of the support of my family."

By agreeing to donate about 60 per cent of her liver, she put herself
at risk from the ordeal of surgery and months of convalescence
afterward.

"I think it's a big thing, you know, to give a liver," said Dr. Sarah
Bellemare, a transplant surgeon at the University of Montreal. "Not
everyone has a donor in the family that has a {*filter*} type compatible and
we want a very close relationship."

Donors in other countries have died because of the surgery, said
Bellemare, who went to New York to learn the technique.
Dr. Sarah Bellemare, transplant surgeon.

A precise amount of the donor's liver needs to be removed for the
procedure to work. The organ regenerates to about 80 per cent of its
original size after four to six weeks.

The successful transplant was a first in Quebec, but it was not the
first choice for either the patient or surgeon, given the risks
compared to a cadaveric donor.

It's hoped the new option will reduce death rates for those on waiting
lists for a liver transplant in the province. Approximately 10 to 12
per cent of patients registered on waiting lists for a liver die each
year.

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