All Filipino medical team undertakes successful liver transplant on three-year old

Manila: A three-year-old girl suffering from end-stage liver disease underwent a successful liver transplant at suburban Pasic City’s Medical City on January 7, a local paper said.

Erica Buenaventura, 3, is the first successful pediatric liver transplant patient in the country. Her recovery after 18 days was “an example of world-class Filipino skills,” the chairman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) told the Manila Times.

“We owe the life of our daughter to everyone who helped us,” the patient’s mother, Carmela, said in a press conference. Her husband is earning a minimum wage of P404 (Dh 33.66) at a manufacturing plant. She is a housewife.

The doctors performed the rare operation for free.

Dr. Ma. Vanessa de Villa, director of liver disease management and transplant, led the team that operated on Buenaventura.

The internationally-trained doctors extracted part of the liver of Jefferson Llantino, 18, the patient’s uncle, for the transplant.

Buenaventura was at the hospital’s pediatric Intensive Care Unit for eight days before she was moved to a regular room on January 18.

The operation, which cost P3 million (Dh 250,000), was sponsored by the PCSO, which paid half. The rest was covered by private donors.

Alfredo Bengson, Medical City’s president, offered to conduct the operation for free when Buenaventura was found to be suffering from end-stage liver disease.