Harvey's Blog

Harvey is jaundiced. Jaundice is a yellowish discoloration of the skin and of the whites of the eyes caused by abnormally high levels of the pigment bilirubin in the bloodstream. Old or damaged red blood cells are constantly being removed from the circulation, mainly by the spleen. During this process, hemoglobin, the part of red blood cells that carries oxygen, is broken down into a dark greenish yellow pigment called bilirubin.

If left untreated, the result of blocked bile flow is damage to the liver such that few children survive beyond the age of two. When bile flow is only partly restored by surgery, the complications of cirrhosis will gradually develop.

The start of Organ Donor Awareness Week 2009 will be held in the ACT from 22 February to 3 March.Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week (AODAW) is the largest public awareness campaign in Australia associated with organ and tissue donation.

Parents of pediatric liver transplant recipients report lower health-related quality of life for their children two years after the surgery, compared to reports from the parents of healthy children. However, reports of family dysfunction fall within the normal range.

Transcript from a radio broadcast from ABC Radio on 24th January 2008:

 ASHLEY HALL: Doctors in Sydney may have stumbled across the holy grail of transplant surgery.

A young liver transplant patient has taken on the immune system of her donor, allowing her to stop taking potentially toxic anti-rejection drugs.