Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, Performs Rare Pediatric Liver Transplants on Filipino Twins

Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, has achieved a global milestone by successfully performing rare, life-saving living-donor liver transplants on 23-month-old twin brothers from the Philippines. The procedures mark the hospital's first pediatric twin liver transplant among more than 645 pediatric liver transplants completed to date, further reinforcing its leadership in advanced pediatric transplant care.

Born prematurely and weighing just 2 kg and 2.4 kg, the twins developed prolonged jaundice and pale stools within two weeks of birth. Further evaluation revealed a Type IVA choledochal cyst, a rare congenital condition affecting the bile ducts inside and outside the liver that rapidly progressed to liver failure in both twins. Despite receiving extensive medical care, they experienced recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal fluid accumulation, poor growth, and repeated hospitalizations, leaving liver transplantation as their only life-saving option. The family traveled to India to access specialized liver transplant care, as transplant services remain limited and the procedure is significantly more expensive in the Philippines.   

A multidisciplinary team of 10 specialists, led by Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director and Senior Pediatric Gastroenterologist, and Dr. Neerav Goyal, Senior Consultant and Head of Liver Transplant Surgery at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, performed two complex back-to-back living-donor liver transplants, each lasting approximately 14 hours. As the twins' father was medically ineligible to donate, their mother donated approximately 20% of her liver to one child, while their maternal uncle donated part of his liver to the other. Both donor liver grafts were carefully reduced in size to safely fit each infant. The twins and their donors are recovering well, and their long-term care will continue through close collaboration between pediatric hepatologists in the Philippines and Apollo's transplant specialists, supported by regular follow-up and remote clinical review.  

Lt. Gen. Dr. Bipin Puri, Director of Medical Services, said the achievement reflects Apollo Hospitals' multidisciplinary expertise, advanced technology, and India's growing leadership in managing some of the most complex pediatric transplant cases in the world. The successful procedures were made possible through the seamless collaboration of transplant surgeons, pediatric specialists, anesthesiologists, intensivists, nursing professionals, and allied healthcare teams.