The Medical City partners with the government in delivering liver transplant services

Premier health institution The Medical City (TMC), home to the country’s leading liver transplant center, has entered into a partnership with the government to help pediatric patients in need of life-saving liver transplantation.

TMC was tapped by the Office of the President (OP) to be a crucial part of the consortium that was formed to address the growing list of children with liver disease but are unable to receive treatment in the Philippines.

The OP officially launched the consortium among the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), and TMC through the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) held at the Malacañang Premier Guest House last February 26. The MOA was signed by DOH Secretary Francisco T. Duque III, TMC President and CEO Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos, and PCMC Executive Director Dr. Julius A. Lecciones, and was witnessed by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and OP Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Michael P. Ong.

“For so long, liver transplantation in the Philippines had not produced survival outcomes that could rally confidence among Filipinos, necessitating having the procedure done in reputable centers abroad, with much economic and emotional burden on the patients’ family members. It has been our aim and our hope to not only elevate the science and the skills in organ transplantation in the country but also to address the economic, cultural and political issues surrounding it,” said Dr. Ramos.

TMC is the preferred medical facility because it has demonstrated its capability in the treatment of liver diseases especially through its liver transplant program that is capable of world-class pediatric and adult, deceased and living donor liver transplantation.

TMC has agreed to collaborate and partner with PCMC as authorized by the DOH under its Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) Program by performing pediatric liver transplant procedures in qualified candidates.

Under the MOA, TMC shall provide surgeons, anesthesiologists, other medical specialists and attending staff, and allow the use of its facilities and all ancillary services for the conduct of evaluation and treatment and/or surgery of pediatric liver patients identified under the agreement. TMC shall then be responsible for service delivery and quality assurance over three distinct phases of care – Evaluation, Surgery and Immediate Post-Operative Care, and Continuing Long-term Care. TMC’s coverage for treatment, surgery, medicines, and other medical interventions will be reimbursed by PCMC under the MAIP Program.

TMC’s Center for Liver Disease Management and Transplantation

It was in 2008 when TMC established the Center for Liver Disease Management and Transplantation (CLDMT) – composed of a collaborative, multi-specialty group of healthcare professionals catering to advanced liver diseases of both the adult and pediatric age groups. Overall operations of the CLDMT are overseen by Dr. Vanessa de Villa, a hepatobiliary surgeon, and a pioneering liver transplant specialist, who has performed liver transplant surgeries in several of the leading transplant centers worldwide. She captained the first successful pediatric liver transplantation surgery in 2011 revitalizing interest in liver transplantation in the country. The child’s (living) liver donor was her uncle. The four children before her, transplanted in other hospitals in the country, all died in the early post-op period.

“We are prepared to partner with the government as we have been doing liver transplant operations since 2011. We share the same goal with the government which is to treat patients here in the Philippines instead of having them go abroad, where they will be in an unfamiliar situation with wide cultural differences and away from family and friends. Post-transplant care is also as critical and close follow-up with the transplant team helps ensure good outcomes,” said Dr. de Villa.

Since 2011, TMC-CLDMT has performed 19 successful liver transplant operations with 81 percent one-year survival rate, making it the leader in the management of end-stage liver disease and liver transplantation in the country. Twelve of these cases involved pediatric patients. 

Dr. de Villa shared that the success of all these liver transplant procedures can be credited to the expertise and preparedness of TMC’s liver transplant team and the cooperation and support of the patients’ families. Also integral to the favorable outcomes of the hospital’s pediatric liver transplant operations is TMC’s fully organized Institute of Pediatrics manned by a staff that includes general pediatricians, subspecialty consultants, and physicians in affiliate subspecialties.

The subspecialty consultants practicing in these fields – Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Cardiology, Pulmonology, Nephrology, Hematology, Infectious Disease, Developmental Pediatrics, and Intensive Care – are usually part of a pediatric patient’s liver transplant team of specialists.

Lucas Serafica: TMC’s 19th liver transplant recipient

TMC’s 19th liver transplant recipient, four-year-old Lucas Serafica who was diagnosed with neonatal cholestatic liver disease underwent live donor liver transplantation on December 10, 2019. His mother, Eunice, was his liver donor.

Eunice said they were aware that the cost of liver transplant in India is more affordable. There were groups who were encouraging them to go to India for the transplant but they preferred TMC over other hospitals abroad.

“We knew TMC is capable. We have met patients who had their transplant in TMC and we were amazed with their progress,” said Eunice.

She added that hospital proximity matters especially post-transplant.

“Does it mean we have to bring the patient back to India for his follow-up tests and other check-ups, or stay there longer? What will happen post-transplant?

Eunice asserted that having the transplant in the Philippines, specifically at TMC, is more reasonable as they wouldn’t have to endure traveling abroad with their sick child, being in a foreign country, and away from their relatives and friends who are their pillars of support.

After the transplant, Lucas stayed at the ICU for a few days before he was transferred to a positive-pressure room in a step-down unit. Medications were adjusted and soon after, Lucas was discharged. Both mom and son are doing well. Family and friends are in high spirits seeing a happy and healthy Lucas.

Adult liver transplant at TMC

The scarcity of donor organs remains to be the limiting factor in liver transplant for adult patients. In pediatric transplantation, parents or other close family members may choose to donate in an effort to aid a sick child. However, living donor liver transplant for adults raises additional complexities. 

TMC is capable of doing both living donor and deceased donor liver transplant. One of TMC’s adult liver transplant recipients is Baltazar “Vhal” Lucas, a software developer in a publishing company who lost all his three brothers to liver cancer from chronic hepatitis B infection. 

Vhal, who was diagnosed with the same dreaded disease as his brothers back in 2014, found out that he could conquer the disease through liver transplant. He underwent living donor liver transplant (LDLT) at TMC in September 2015. “He is a living testament of how transplantation can transform the lives of those with the end stages of liver diseases and even those with liver cancer,” affirmed Dr. Janus Ong, a renowned doctor-researcher and the lead hepatologist of CLDMT.

TMC’s first liver transplant in an adult patient using a liver from a deceased donor was performed in July 2012.

The CLDMT, otherwise known as The Medical City Liver Center, may be reached through 89887000 local 6506.

ADVT

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