Thiruvananthapuram March 17, 2026: Six month old Dhriya returns home safe and well, after having overcome  the life threatening liver disease she was born with. She received a new lease of life through a liver transplant at KIMSHEALTH, with Alin becoming the youngest organ donor in the country.

Dhriya  was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a condition characterised by a blockage in the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder. The disease occurs when the bile ducts, either inside or outside the liver, fail to develop normally and  affects approximately one in 70,000 newborns worldwide She had earlier undergone Kasai surgery elsewhere, a procedure in which the blocked bile ducts are removed and a new pathway for bile drainage is created using a portion of the small intestine. Despite that, she  developed complications including portal hypertension, refractory ascites  and synthetic dysfunction. She was then  referred to KIMSHEALTH, where a liver transplant was advised as the only viable option to save her life.

Under the expert leadership of Dr. Shiraz Ahmad Rather, Consultant & Head of Multivisceral Transplant, Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic & Liver Transplant Surgery, KIMSHEALTH and Dr. Shabeerali T.U., Chief Coordinator and Senior Consultant, Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic & Liver Transplant Surgery, KIMSHEALTH, baby Dhriya underwent a high-risk, 12-hour liver transplant. "This was an extraordinarily challenging transplant given the donor's and recipient's age. Yet, as a team, we took  the challenge to restore hope and joy to the parents of Dhriya. The post-operative phase was equally demanding, requiring round-the-clock vigilance and the coordinated expertise of intensivists, anaesthetists, nurses, and the entire multidisciplinary team," said Dr Shiraz Ahmad Rather.

Following the surgery the condition of the child improved in a sustained manner, and her liver function has now stabilised. Dr. Varghese Yeldho, Consultant, Department of Hepatobiliary, Pancreas and Liver Transplant,Dr. Hashir A., Dr. Prijith R.S., and Dr. Abhijith Uthaman, Consultants, Department of Anesthesia; Dr. Madhu Sashidharan, Senior Consultant, Department of Gastroenterology; Dr. Anu K. Vasu, Associate Consultant, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Liver Transplant; Dr. Manish Kumar Yadav, Senior Consultant, Department of Interventional Radiology; Dr. Manoj K.S., Senior Consultant, Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology; and Dr. Shiju Kumar C, Consultant & Chief Intensivist, Department of Pediatrics, were also part of the treatment team.