New hope on transplants

A toddler has become the first patient to undergo revolutionary treatment which could make liver transplants a thing of the past.

Eighteen-month-old Laurie Robinson had four weeks to live unless he had a transplant.

But he was given an injection of healthy liver cells rather than undergoing an eight-hour transplant operation.

The new procedure, called hepatocyte treatment, was carried out for the first time in the world at King's College hospital, south London, three weeks ago. It shows all the signs of being a success.

Consultant Dr Anil Dhawan, who heads the research team, said the results were "extremely exciting".

Laurie's parents today spoke of their joy. "This will transform our lives and his," said his father Adam.

Mr Robinson, 31, added: "We are thrilled that things are going so well. The thought of a liver transplant terrified us.

"Sometimes children survive until they are 10 without a transplant but with Laurie, the disease seemed to be progressing extremely fast. He didn't have much energy and he wasn't growing properly."

The new procedure took 45 minutes and Laurie was discharged from hospital in three days rather than the five weeks it takes after a transplant. His mother Eleanor said: "It is amazing, just great. We are hoping for the best. It would just be the most enormous relief when he is finally on the mend. Although he is quite sensitive to the treatment, he is being very brave."

Laurie, whose family live in Penge, was born with a rare liver disease called Bile Salt Export Pump - BSEP - a hereditary condition where the bile salts within the organ corrode the liver and eventually destroy it. It can result in cirrhosis and death.

It will take between three and six months before Laurie's parents discover whether the hepatocyte treatment has been successful. This largely depends on how effective antirejection drugs prove to be in suppressing the immune systems while the new cells do their work.

When Laurie was first diagnosed with BSEP, his father, a channel controller with Sky Television, had assumed that a liver transplant would be the only way to save him. But a doctor at King's hospital, Dr Richard Thompson, suggested trying the new technique.

Three other children have since received the treatment. Seven-month-old Billy Cortield, from Liverpool, was close to death before he was given hepatocyte injections.

Dr Dhawan said: "These first trials are showing every sign of being successful. If the technique does provide long-term success then 20 to 40 children could be treated without the need for liver transplantation each year in the UK.

"This will free up more donor livers and therefore increase the overall number of people who could be offered liver replacement."

King's College hospital's liver unit operates Europe's largest liver transplant programme and last year completed-2,000 transplants for adults and children.

The hepatocyte procedure could mean that liver transplants will be replaced by the injection of healthy cells from a donor which carry a much lower risk of rejection.

It will also do away with the difficulties that so many liver transplant patients have in finding a donor. Sixty patients died last year in Britain because a donor could not be found in time.