Hospital Selayang hepatobiliary unit

DEDICATED liver services in Malaysia started only in 1992, and was pioneered by Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican in Hospital Kuala Lumpur to meet the demands of patients who suffer from complications of liver diseases.

In 1999, this service was relocated to Hospital Selayang, which has since evolved into the national tertiary referral centre specialised in the management of critically ill patients with acute and chronic liver diseases.

In year 2000, the then head of the Hospital Selayang hepatobilary surgery Datuk Mr Harjit Singh commenced the liver transplant service in the unit. Since then, there have been 45 liver transplants done in the centre, with an overall survival rate of 72%.

“A lot of our patients do not know where to go,” says Dr Ismail, who is also currently the head of the hepatology unit in the centre. “There were attempts to do liver transplantation in private centres, but we felt that liver transplantation should be offered to patients in a public facility ... as it is very specialised and very resource intensive,” he adds. The unit is currently the only centre in Malaysia that performs liver transplants.

Besides offering services for complex liver diseases at the Hospital Selayang hepatobilary unit, the Ministry of Health, together with the Malaysian Liver Foundation, also organises biennial Liver Updates to inform local doctors about the latest findings and technology in liver treatment and diagnostics.

The 9th Liver Update, which will be held next year on July 13 to 17 at the Sunway Lagoon Resort hotel, will feature live surgery workshops and talks by international speakers and is open to all healthcare professionals who are interested in liver care.

As the hepatobiliary unit receives more and more patients, it is the unit’s hope to eventually have a liver centre of its own. “Hopefully, with a dedicated liver centre, we will be able to retain our specialists and ask some of them who have left to come back,” says Dr Ismail. A dedicated liver centre could also help the unit meet the increasing demands of liver services in the country, he adds.

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