Events

Parkway Hospitals Inaugurates Liver Centre

Official launch of the Parkway Liver Centre at the 2007 Liver Symposium

Parkway Hospitals, Singapore officially launched the Parkway Liver Centre at the 2007 Liver Symposium on 'Liver Transplantation in the 21st Century'. Dr Paul Joseph Thuluvath, Chief of Hepatology and Medical Director for Liver Transplantation and Director of Liver Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, US, graced the occasion. Speaking to Express Healthcare, Dr Thuluvath expressed his concern on the growing problem of Hepatitis B and C especially in Asia. "Indians are not universally vaccinated and they take the problem lightly. This is what happened in the case of HIV/AIDS. So just as HIV could be prevented then, so can Hepatitis B and C," he said.

“The centre consists of a fully integrated treatment centre with 21 beds-- seven intensive care rooms for ICU and HDU patients, with six single bed rooms and four two bed rooms,” said Dato Dr Tan Kai Chah, Consultant Surgeon, Hepatobiliary /Transplant Surgeon, Gleneagles Hospital and Director of the Liver Transplant Programme.

Highly specialised equipment at this centre includes:

• Maquet Alpha-Port Ceiling Pendant System with medical equipment, medical gas terminal units, electrical and speciality services suspended on the system's arms keeping the floor clear of equipment The arms glide to any required position.
• TotalCare Bed System, which has a special treatment surface that reduces back-related injuries associated with patient movement, repositioning and transfers. In its FullChair position, the bed helps nurses and caregivers to position patients in an upright position as per the physician's advice and makes movement easier.
• Servoi Ventillation system is a ventilation support for patients in the ICU. It is a flexible design which makes it easier for patient transportation within the hospital.
• Phillips Carevue Clinical Information System delivers real time clinical decision support by collating patient data and applying programmed rules on programmed rules on clinical advisories to enhance patient safety.

Says Dr Desmond Wai Chun Tao, Consultant Transplant Hepatologist and Gastroenterologist, Gleneagles Hospital, "We are the first liver transplant centre in South East Asia, set up in a private set-up. Now, since at this centre we have everything under one roof, patients are taken care of by the same team of nurses and doctors before, during and after the transplant." On an average, around 10 in-patients come in to this centre in a day for various diseases like liver failure or bleeding or post-transplant care or liver cancer. Cost for a liver transplant is around $ 1,088. This comes in two packages-- one for the donor and one for the recipient

The centre also resorts to unrelated donors in a situation where a family, member is not suitable donor. However, stringent rules laid down by Singapore's Ministry of Health lays emphasis on 'an emotional relationship' between the patient and the donor.

An ethics committee is constituted for the purpose.With a success rate of 85 per cent, this centre however does not intend to diversify to other countries but instead through its liver training programme, it intends to attract surgeons from any part of the globe and train them in liver transplants.

Nayantara Som