Ping Pong Ball Saves 2 Year-Old's Life

Sydney. Australia

An Australian surgeon took a daring step in a liver transplant recently; He implanted a ping pong ball in the patient! What sounds like a medical mishap was, instead, an innovative measure taken to save a life. 2 year-old Mackenzie was on the operating table to receive a portion of an adult liver in place of her own. With donors rare, in Australia, surgeon Albert Shun had no back-up options when the transplant organ proved troublesome. The liver's size and shape caused it to rest on Mackenzie's blood vessels, creating potentially fatal pressure. In an almost MacGyver-like fashion, Shun placed a $2 ping pong ball inside hie patient to prevent the liver from obstructing her blood flow. "There shouldn't be any complications." Says Shun. "We are in a unique situation in Australia because we have a low donor rate so we have to be adaptable." While the unorthodox technique came as a shock to Mackenzie's parents, who found out about it after the surgery, they insist are happy to see their daughter alive and well. "She is so normal now," says mother Letice Darswell, "she is a happy kid."

To read more, visit http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24393387-5006009,00.html