Delhi hospital saves two patients with rare combined liver and heart procedures

A Delhi hospital successfully performed rare combined liver transplants and complex cardiac surgeries on two critically ill patients with advanced liver failure and serious heart ailments.

A Delhi hospital has successfully performed a rare combined liver transplants and complex cardiac surgeries on two critically ill patients suffering from advanced liver failure and serious heart ailments, doctors said on Thursday.

The procedures were carried out at Fortis Hospital Shalimar Bagh, where doctors treated two patients whose severe cardiac conditions had made liver transplantation highly risky unless the heart issues were addressed first.

According to the hospital, one of the patients, a 46-year-old man from Uzbekistan, was diagnosed with severe blockages in all three major heart arteries, while the second patient, aged 41 years, suffered from critical narrowing of a heart valve controlling blood flow from the heart to the body.

Doctors said both patients were suffering from decompensated chronic liver disease, an advanced stage of liver failure associated with complications such as fluid accumulation, bleeding, jaundice and kidney dysfunction. Liver transplantation was considered the only life-saving option in both cases, they said.

For the first patient, surgeons performed a coronary artery bypass surgery on the beating heart to minimise bleeding risks, immediately followed by a living-donor liver transplant during the same operative session, the hospital said.

In the second case, doctors first carried out open-heart surgery to replace the diseased heart valve and, after monitoring the patient for 24 hours to rule out complications, proceeded with a living-donor liver transplant the following day.

The hospital said both patients recovered steadily after the surgeries and were discharged in stable condition within three weeks with well-functioning transplanted livers and stable cardiac function.

Dr Ashish George, Principal Consultant and Unit Head, Liver Transplant and HPB Surgery, said the success of the procedures depended on timely intervention, coordinated planning and collaboration across multiple specialities.

The cardiology team at the hospital said the cases were extremely complex because both patients required critical cardiac surgery alongside liver transplantation.

The hospital described the interventions as rare globally due to the high surgical risks and specialised multidisciplinary expertise required.