Trinidad Infant Gets New Lease of Life Through Rare Liver Transplant

New Delhi: A seven-month-old baby from Trinidad and Tobago, weighing less than 4 kg and suffering from a rare genetic liver disorder, has undergone a life-saving liver transplant in Delhi.The infant, Erik Ramsook, was brought to Apollo Hospital after developing severe liver disease within months of birth. Doctors found him suffering from end-stage liver failure, severe malnutrition, abdominal fluid accumulation and complications linked to advanced liver disease.The case drew additional attention because Erik’s family traces its roots to present-day Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh. More than 175 years after an ancestor migrated from India to the Caribbean, the family returned to Delhi seeking treatment for the critically ill child.According to Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director and senior paediatric gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Apollo Hospital, a liver transplant was the child’s only chance of survival. The procedure was carried out within a week of the family’s arrival in Delhi.The transplant was performed by a multidisciplinary liver transplant team led by Dr Neerav Goyal after Erik’s mother donated a portion of her liver. Doctors said the child’s father was initially evaluated as a donor but was found unsuitable.Genetic testing later confirmed that Erik suffered from Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis Type 4 (PFIC4), a rare inherited liver disorder caused by a mutation in the TJP2 gene. Fewer than 10 infant liver transplants for TJP2-related disease have been reported worldwide, making the case exceptionally uncommon.“Of more than 600 paediatric liver transplants performed at our centre, only two have involved children with a TJP2 mutation,” said Dr Goyal. He added that Erik was also only the second child from Trinidad and Tobago to undergo a liver transplant at the hospital.Doctors said the successful surgery highlights Delhi’s growing role as a destination for highly specialised paediatric care, with complex transplant procedures increasingly attracting patients from overseas.Fifteen days after surgery, Erik was discharged from the hospital. He is recovering well.