Mexico performs first successful liver transplant on patient with blood disorder

Mexican surgeons have successfully carried out a complex liver transplant, in one of only 18 such operations ever performed worldwide.

The Social Security and Services Institute for State Employees (ISSSTE) said it applied "an innovative technique to replace diseased blood with healthy blood so (the patient) can tolerate the transplant."

"Today the ISSSTE makes history by presenting the first successful case of a liver transplant in a 24-year-old patient with hepatic cirrhosis caused by sickle-cell anemia," the institute announced Tuesday.

Out of the 18 similar transplants performed around the world, only 10 have been successful in that the patient has survived, said ISSSTE.

At a press conference, Luis Ernesto Gallardo, the general director of the 20th of November National Medical Center (CMN), explained the complexities of the condition that afflicted Ximena Arredondo Silva.

"As her blood cells are not normal, they could block the main blood vessels of the new liver and threaten its viability," he said.

To prevent that from happening, doctors used some 60 units of hemoglobin to replace 70 percent of the patient's blood. The surgery took place on Jan. 7.

A smiling Arredondo, who joined the medical team at the conference, thanked her doctors and urged people to donate blood and organs to help those in need of a transplant. Enditem