Society

Man survives eight organ transplants

By Jia Xu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-01-11 17:10

A man is recovering in hospital after undergoing transplant surgery on eight abdomen parts, rednet.cn reported on Tuesday.

He is the second man in Asia to undergo such extensive surgery of 13 hours which involved replacing the pancreas, spleen, duodenum, intestines, stomach, colon, and appendix in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan province.

The organ receiver Hong Delong (alias), 38, caught a cold last September and started to suffer abdominal pain. He went to the doctors in November where he was diagnosed with portal vein thrombosis.

Hong Delong (alias) smiles to camera in hospital after ten days' of "almost complete" abdomen transplant in Changsha, Capital of Central China's Hunan province on Jan 11, 2011. [Photo/CFP]

Hong was sent to the operating room on Dec 31 by He Zhijun, chief surgeon of The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central China University.

"It's the first whole organ transplanting case in our hospital, we did it based on one past single transplanting experience, and good thing is, we made it," said He in excitement.

The operation is estimated to cost about 500,000 yuan ($75,375), yet Hong got it for free due to the hospital initiation project policy.

A nurse and Hong's wife take care of him at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central China University on Jan 11,2011.[Photo/CFP]

After ten days from the operation, Hong's situation is "stable" and "he can eat liquid food now" according to Hong's wife.

Hong is the second man to successfully survive the whole abdomen organ-replacement, which also marks the advancement of Chinese organ transplantations.