BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Assad Hassoun, liver transplant surgeon, and Dr. Barry Rose, liver transplant anesthesiologist, both of California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, CA, have just returned home from a humanitarian mission in Erbil, Iraq, where they joined a team of medical specialists to perform the first ever liver transplant in the rebuilding country. The trip was sponsored by The Red Crescent and Zheen International Hospital. Two young brothers were involved in the living-donor transplant surgery, which was reported to be very successful.
Dr. Rose had requested a Belmont® Rapid Infuser to take with him to Iraq, knowing that liver transplant cases can involve vast amounts of blood loss, and wanted a machine on hand that he knew could withstand the onslaught and keep the patients alive. Belmont Instrument loaned the machine to Dr. Rose and the team. During the 19 hour surgery, 26 units of blood and blood products were given to the recipient with the Belmont.
A video of the medical team and the first patients can be seen on Youtube by searching “First Liver Transplant in Iraq” or at the following link: youtu.be/-6IivdPWgFQ.
“These holidays are much better for [the transplant recipient] and his family,” said Dr. Rose, “and for countless other Iraqi patients who now at least have hope that there is a program coming to give them an option for treatment of their liver disease. Previously, that hope was sadly missing.” Dr. Rose also states that the team plans to make a return trip to Erbil in early 2012 to perform two more transplants and continue working toward a sustainable liver transplant program in Iraq.
The Belmont® Rapid Infuser is used in most major US hospitals and many others throughout the world, and is the recognized standard of care for the treatment of massive blood loss. The Rapid Infuser has been used extensively by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan where it has been credited with helping to save the lives of hundreds of soldiers and civilians.
Belmont Instrument’s products are Combat Tested... Hospital Approved.
Belmont Instrument Corporation has developed sophisticated and reliable devices in fluid management and cardiac assist since its founding in 1980. The Belmont® Rapid Infuser is used to save lives in more than forty-five thousand procedures per year in hospitals throughout the world.