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Korean liver transplant surgical team, living-donor dad deliver life to Chinese baby

Published: 04 Jun. 2025, 19:51

Seoul Asan Medical Center professor Lee Sung-gyu checks six-month-old Li Wei (alias), who was being treated at Tsinghua University’s affiliated Changgung Hospital in Beijing. [SEOUL ASAN MEDICAL CENTER]

Six-month-old Li Wei (alias), who was being treated at Tsinghua University’s affiliated Changgung Hospital in Beijing, was born with biliary atresia, a congenital condition in which bile fails to drain from the liver, leading to liver failure. Although Li underwent surgery shortly after birth to remove the blocked bile ducts, jaundice worsened and his condition deteriorated.

At one point, built up fluid began leaking into his scrotum — a medical emergency. At the request of Tsinghua University, a team of Korean doctors traveled to China and performed a nine-hour liver transplant that saved his life. The procedure was livestreamed to over 20,000 liver transplant specialists across China.

Seoul Asan Medical Center said Wednesday that the transplant team — including professors Lee Sung-gyu, Moon Deok-bog, Jung Dong-hwan and Yoon Young-in from the hospital’s liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery department — successfully carried out the living-donor liver transplant on May 11 in China.

Brain-dead donor liver transplants are more common in China, where the country lacks experience in living-donor transplants, which involve removing a portion of a healthy person’s liver and are significantly more complex.

The Asan team arrived in Beijing on May 9. A major challenge was Li’s weight — just 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds). In Korea, pediatric liver transplants are generally performed only after the child reaches 8 kilograms as an oversized donor liver can result in abdominal pressure and tissue necrosis if the cavity is too small to accommodate it.

But the Korean team determined that Li’s condition was too critical to delay further. Two days after arriving, they proceeded with the surgery in coordination with Chinese medical staff. Professors Jung and Yoon safely removed part of the father’s liver using a 10-centimeter (3.9-inch) minimally invasive incision. Professors Lee and Moon then transplanted the graft into Li.

The 9-hour operation was broadcast online as part of a Korea-China liver transplant symposium held at Changgung Hospital. Over 20,000 medical professionals across China viewed the surgery in real time. Li began drinking milk by the third day after surgery and was discharged in good health on May 27.

Following the operation, Professor Lee gave a lecture to medical students at Tsinghua University. He shared insights from Seoul Asan Medical Center’s experience, including how it became the first medical institution in the world to complete 9,000 liver transplants as of April.

“I am grateful we could give this critically ill child a new life through living-donor liver transplantation,” said Lee. “We will continue sharing our expertise wherever needed so patients around the world can regain their health.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY NAM SOO-HYUN [[email protected]]