Pequeno Príncipe celebrates 15 liver transplants during the first year of the pandemic
Reference in this type of procedure, the institution transforms the lives of several children and their families
Mathias Fernandez Baião Wagner is 2 years old and is, nowadays, a totally different child than he was a year ago. He plays, runs and is very active. It is growing and gaining weight. These are some of the visible signs of life change after the liver transplant, which took place in January 2020, and which marked the resumption of service at Pequeno Príncipe Hospital.
In his first days of life, his yellowish color revealed liver problems, a diagnosis confirmed 30 days later in a hospital in Curitiba. He then underwent surgery in an attempt to correct this situation. The procedure, however, did not bring the expected result and the boy became a candidate for liver transplantation.
Mathias received part of the liver from his father, Vitor Fernando Wagner, 19 years old. “Mathias doing well was our best gift. He is a new child, and we are very happy to know that other children are being able to perform the transplant like him,” celebrates the mother, Shirley Baião.
Team preparation
The success of the procedures in 2020 is the result of the resumption of the service, which completed a year in January. For this historic moment, the Hospital received the surgeon Rodrigo Vianna, director of the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), the largest transplant hospital in the United States. In addition to directing the institution, the doctor is internationally recognized for the technique that substantially reduced the duration of liver transplant surgery and, in 2019, broke the record of the United States for transplants performed in one year: 747.
Pequeno Príncipe also brought together technical conditions and equipment similar to those used in the United States. The team lined-up to perform the transplants is multidisciplinary, also following the international example. Altogether, there are 22 professionals, including surgeons, hepatologists, anesthesiologists, intensivists, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, nutritionists, psychologists and social workers.
Overcoming the pandemic
Even during the year of the pandemic, Pequeno Príncipe performed 15 liver transplants in children and adolescents, establishing itself as a reference in this type of procedure. In Paraná, the institution is the only one to perform transplants in children under 10 years old. This specificity, added to the 93% survival rate, places the Hospital alongside other centers specialized in pediatric liver transplantation in Brazil.
For 2021, the institution estimates 24 more surgeries. “Our expectation is to perform two transplants per month. For the first semester, we already have five patients with indication,” explains the pediatric surgeon Giovana Camargo de Almeida, technical responsible for the Hospital’s Liver Transplant Service.
Check how Mathias is doing one year after the transplant.
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