At the Kyiv medical facility "Okhmatdyt," a groundbreaking liver transplant was performed for a child, marking the first instance of an ABO-incompatible transplant in Ukraine.
The hospital shared details about this extraordinary operation on their official page.
The young patient, Maxym from Chornobayivka, Kherson region, arrived at "Okhmatdyt" in January 2025, exhibiting jaundice, lethargy, abdominal swelling, pale stools, and dark urine.
Upon examination and tests, it became clear that the child required a liver transplant. However, the parents were unable to donate due to incompatible blood types.
The condition was worsening rapidly, and the liver's function was declining. Maxym was admitted to the anesthesiology department. Only a transplant could save the boy's life.
Globally, there are known cases of organ transplants where the donor's blood type does not match that of the recipient, referred to as ABO-incompatible transplants. Such cases are rare among adults and significantly more complex for children; previously, such surgeries had never been performed in Ukraine.
Dr. Oleg Hodik, a transplant surgeon at "Okhmatdyt," explained: "ABO-incompatible transplantation is a solution for situations where we cannot perform a transplant under standard compatibility conditions. This is particularly relevant for our country, where organ donation after brain death is critically low."
The medical team decided to take this unprecedented step by convening a council, studying international protocols, and consulting with colleagues abroad to prepare for the operation.
As Maxym's father is a soldier, the doctors opted to transplant a portion of the liver from his mother.
"She has blood type II, and the child has type I. To minimize the risk of rejection due to the different blood types, Maxym underwent a course of plasma exchange and was prescribed specialized immunosuppressive therapy."
Specialists continuously monitored the levels of antibodies in the child's body to ensure the risk of rejecting the new liver was low. They even conducted another test right before the operation, and only after receiving the results did they proceed with the surgical intervention.
The operation lasted 20 hours and was successful. The organ was accepted, and the young patient was discharged home. He now visits "Okhmatdyt" weekly for check-ups.
Previously, we discussed how the transplantation system operates in Ukraine and how the "donor-recipient" pairs are matched.
