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Indian liver donor dies in Singapore
A 39-year-old Indian died in Singapore a few days after he donated part of his liver to save the life of a compatriot.
A coroner's inquiry will probe the death of a 39-year-old Indian who died in Singapore a few days after he donated part of his liver to save the life of a compatriot, news reports said Tuesday.
The recipient, a 54-year-old woman who got the liver in November, recovered well enough to go home, but the donor collapsed while he was recuperating in Gleneagles Hospital, according to The Straits Times.
K.C. Tan, the transplant surgeon, said the donor, a close relative, suffered a massive heart attack despite his youth and fitness.
Tan said the donor was put through a treadmill electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram as part of the screening process to certify him fit as an organ donor.
He fared well in the four days after surgery and was due to leave the intensive care unit when he collapsed. His blood pressure plummeted.
A cardiac surgeon performed an emergency operation finding the entire left part of the heart was diseased from a massive attack. But the man died within hours.
"The final cause of this unfortunate death is still pending, but it does not appear to be related to the surgery in any way," a spokesman for the hospital was quoted as saying.
Internationally, there is a 10 percent risk of complications from donating part of a liver, doctors said. Risk of death for a donor is less than one in 200.
