Aust surgeons elated at transplant

Photo / Paul Estcourt

Brendan Cole's dream of marrying his sweetheart Kirrily in Fiji has moved a lot closer after he survived a 12-hour multi-organ transplant, the first of its kind in Australia.

The 32-year-old, who has lived much of his life on intravenous nutrition because of intestinal failure, received a new liver, pancreas and small intestine in an operation in a Melbourne hospital that wound up at 2am yesterday.

The 20-member team, led by Professor Bob Jones and assisted by English transplant surgeon Darius Mirza, was elated with the outcome.

"He looks pretty good this morning, we're very pleased with how things have gone," Prof Jones said yesterday.

Physician Adam Testro said Cole had not been able to eat solid food for the past decade.

"He got to the point where he didn't have long to live and this operation will enable him to lead a normal life," Testro said.

"He has a partner, he wants to get married and live a normal life and this was holding him back. His outlook was grim without this procedure."

Jones explained how his team stripped Cole's abdomen until it was an empty cavity - "just like an empty suitcase".

"It's one of the most spectacular findings - when you look inside the abdomen and there's nothing," he said. "It's the sort of process that would gross you out ... but at the end of the operation, his tummy is full of the normal organs."

Intestinal transplants have been done in 62 countries and Mirza has been involved in around 70 operations at Birmingham Hospital in the UK over the past 15 years.

"The risk of his body rejecting the new organs is high, so we're not out of the woods yet," Mirza said.

Cole will continue to receive nutrition through a tube for the next five weeks as his body adjusts to his new bowel and hopefully he will then slowly move on to fluids and solid food.

Before the operation, Cole said his life had been on hold: "I have so much to look forward to - I want to go back to work and contribute to society," he said.

The transplant, which cost between about A$300,000 (NZ$366,979) and $400,000, was paid by the state Government.

But Jones said it was a bargain as it cost around A$120,000 each year just to keep Cole alive.