Xi'an (China), Jan 29 (Xinhua) A small-intestine transplant patient in China has married nearly eight years after an organ transplant from his father saved his life.Yang Feng, 27, from the central Henan Province was diagnosed with diverticulosis, a serious intestinal disease, as a baby and had to rely on large doses of antibiotics throughout his childhood to ease inflammations.When he was 18, surgeons had to remove almost 500 cm, or 90 percent, of his small intestine, causing serious digestion and excretion problems that were life threatening.Yang was 183 cm tall and weighed only 35 kg. Seeing the life of his son at risk, the father took him to the Xijing Hospital in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.Doctors told them that a small intestine transplant was their last hope. They also said that at that time, the experience of Chinese doctors in small intestine transplant was limited to transplants from dead bodies. Results of such operations were not very 'ideal'.Transplant of small intestine from a live body, especially from a relative, will produce a much better result in theory. However, such a transplant had never been done in China before.Yang's father Yang Runsheng, a peasant farmer, decided to donate part of his own intestine to save the young man's life.The operation in May 1999 involved more than 60 medical staff members at the Xijing Hospital in Xi'an. About 150 cm of the father's ileum, part of the small intestine, was transplanted into the son.Eight years after the operation, father and son are healthy, except that the young man still takes anti-immunity drugs daily to minimise the risk of rejection, said Wang Weizhong, a surgeon with the Xijing Hospital.'But it's a small dose and has little side effect. I don't think there'll be any problem if the couple want a baby.'Yang's bride Li Yali was his classmate at primary school and has witnessed his ordeal over the years. 'I always believed he would recover and live a normal life,' she said.Sources at the Xijing Hospital claimed that Yang was by far the longest surviving small intestine transplant patient in Asia. The hospital has also given Yang a temporary job as a cleaner.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
