Adriana: An 11-Month-Old Baby’s Liver Transplant Journey

Every patient’s healing story is unique. But this one is something more. When the patient is not even one year old, needs a part of her father’s liver to survive, and must find physicians in another country, the journey becomes a story filled with miracles.

An 11-month-old baby girl, Adriana, was diagnosed with a liver cancer called hepatoblastoma, which led to liver failure in her hometown. Based on medical recommendations in Montenegro, her family decided to travel to Türkiye for treatment at Acıbadem Hospital. Adriana’s mother explains that she was a completely healthy baby at birth until one moment when everything changed. Adriana suddenly became restless, started crying, and refused to eat or sleep. That was how it all began.

“When she was about five months old, we started going from one doctor to another and doing various tests. During an ultrasound, they discovered that the problem was in her liver. Since we couldn’t receive proper treatment in Montenegro and doctors advised us to come to Türkiye, we accepted immediately, without hesitation. The only important thing was to save my daughter’s life.”

Finding the Right Treatment for Adriana

When Adriana’s medical files were shared with the Acıbadem physicians, the case was reviewed in a multidisciplinary council. Specialists from several medical fields, including surgeons, radiologists, pediatric oncologists, and pediatric gastroenterologists, discussed her condition and concluded that there was no other treatment option besides liver transplantation.

Although chemotherapy and removing the cancerous part of the liver are often effective in treating hepatoblastoma, Adriana’s tumor completely covered the right lobe of her liver and was connected to major blood vessels. For this reason, removing the entire liver and replacing it with a new one was the only possible option. Here, the main challenge was finding a suitable liver. Thankfully, her father’s blood type was compatible, and he was willing to donate.

Beginning Adriana’s Treatment in Acıbadem, Türkiye

First, Adriana received chemotherapy for a period of time to shrink the tumor in her liver. During this process, all the necessary preparations for the transplant were completed. Afterward, the liver transplant surgery was performed on Adriana using a piece of liver taken from her father, by an extended team led by Professor Hamdi Karakayalı, Head of the Organ Transplantation Unit at Acıbadem Atakent Hospital.

Professor Hamdi Karakayalı remarks after the surgery: “It was a huge tumor, and it completely filled the inside of the liver. Because of this, apart from abdominal pain, the pressure caused by the tumor can lead to many symptoms that may become life-threatening. Since we removed the tumor along with the liver and replaced it with a new healthy liver, Adriana is now continuing her life like a healthy baby. I hope she will continue that way.”

Liver transplantation is a complex procedure, and it is even more challenging in children. After a piece of liver is removed from an adult donor, it is too large for the abdomen of an infant like Adriana. For this reason, the liver must be reduced in size without compromising its integrity, damaging its blood vessels or bile ducts, or impairing its functional capacity. Thanks to the Acıbadem team’s extensive experience in pediatric liver transplantation, all these challenges were successfully overcome. Adriana will hopefully enjoy a normal childhood and lead a healthy life going forward.

Acıbadem Liver Transplant Team’s success rate for these kinds of cases is above 90 percent. To date, Prof. Karakayalı and his colleagues have performed this surgery on more than 200 infants and have monitored their outcomes with excellent results.

Ready to Enjoy Life

After all the difficulties and this long struggle, Adriana and her parents are ready to go home healthy, happy, smiling, and free from major worries. The mother expresses her feelings and gratitude: “First of all, we are deeply grateful to the Turkish doctors and the medical staff. We are satisfied with our overall experience, and everything is exactly as it should be. I must admit, I have never seen worry on our doctors’ faces. Adriana’s condition was truly critical, but thanks to them, she is here with us today, smiling. We are most looking forward to simple things like walking in the park, playing, and having breakfast together at home as the three of us together as a family, without big worries or problems. Those simple moments mean the most. Today, what I feel above all is immense happiness, because I know she has a long and healthy life ahead of her.”