Successful liver transplant between two HIV-infected patients

US surgeons have successfully performed the world's first liver transplant between two HIV/AIDS patients.

Liver transplant surgery - Photo: AFP.

This result is expected to open up new hope to help save the lives of many patients infected with the disease of the century through organ transplants.
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Speaking to the press on March 30, surgery professor Dorry Segev of John Hopkins University announced that this liver transplant was performed a few weeks ago and had good results.

Currently, the health of both the recipient and the organ donor are recovering positively after the major surgery.
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According to Professor Segev, research shows that each year, about 500 to 600 patients with HIV/AIDS die while their internal organs are healthy enough to be donated. Therefore, allowing their organs to be used for transplants to other HIV-infected patients will help save about 1,000 lives each year.
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In a statement, the HIV Medical Association welcomed the surgery, stressing that organ transplants between people living with HIV will provide the opportunity to save the lives of hundreds of patients infected with this dangerous virus who are struggling daily with liver and kidney diseases.
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The association also hopes that this “medical advance” will bring hope to many more HIV-infected patients in need of organ transplants in the future.
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The successful organ transplant was the result of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Transplant Parity Act (HOPE ACT), signed into law by US President Barack Obama in 2013, which paved the way for organ transplants between people infected with the virus that causes immunodeficiency.
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Previously, US law did not recognize organ transplants between HIV-infected patients, and therefore HIV patients could only receive organs from HIV-uninfected donors.
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However, due to the low number of organ donors, many HIV-infected patients die before they can receive organ transplant surgery.
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According to statistics, there are about 122,000 people in the US waiting for organ transplants, of which thousands have died while waiting for surgery.

Previously, several kidney transplants between HIV patients have been performed in South Africa. However, the biggest challenge now is that doctors may face the possibility that these transplants may expose the recipient to a more dangerous strain of HIV than the strain they themselves are infected with./.

According to Vietnamplus