Pioneering liver-op girl makes progress

BUBBLING with energy as she watches a Winnie the Pooh video, Lucy Henke enjoys all the usual activities of a three-year-old. But about seven weeks ago she made the headlines as the first girl in the world to undergo a life-saving new liver treatment. She had the pioneering liver-cell transplant at King's College Hospital, London, at the beginning of May. Now she is back in Guernsey and attending Butterflies Playgroup, although she may have to stop visits while her immunity is low. Her parents, Jackie, 39, and Henry, 36, said that Lucy was doing well and making slow progress. 'She's had a little cough and cold but on the whole she's quite happy,' said Mrs Henke. 'She loves doing her jigsaw puzzles and playing in her little kitchen and in the garden, tearing up the flower beds.' Lucy had the 45-minute procedure under general anaesthetic. She suffers from a rare genetic liver condition which can be fatal without treatment. She was on the transplant list from March and matching donor cells were found on May Day. After three days in hospital, she went with her mum to stay at her grandmother's house near Gatwick. 'Three times a week, she went back to hospital for blood tests to get a steady level of anti-rejection drugs and monitor her liver functions and blood clotting. There are no signs of rejection,' said Mrs Henke, who works part-time for Specsavers. Lucy even spent her third birthday, on 27 May, in hospital having tests. 'But we had a tea party at my mum's with her cousins and friends from next door,' said Mrs Henke. Since she returned home about three weeks ago, Lucy has had twice-weekly liver-function tests, the results of which have been up and down. 'We're hoping to know by August whether it's working. Then she will go back to King's College for a liver biopsy. That will show how many good cells there are and whether she needs a top-up,' said Mr Henke, who works for NM Rothschild and Sons. Doctors froze some of the cells, which could be used if Lucy needed a top-up. She was injected with some 340m. cells, a tiny percentage of the liver's total number. The new cells should divide and eventually replace the defective ones, allowing normal liver function. Her five-year-old sister, Emily, was also born with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, a condition where bile acids cannot be cleared from the liver. This causes damage and cirrhosis and can be fatal if untreated. Emily had a life-saving transplant at King's College Hospital last June. Doctors hope that Lucy's type of treatment will be able to replace the more-risky liver transplants, which for Emily involved an eight-hour operation, a five-week stay in hospital and a large abdominal scar. 'Emily is fine and full of beans. She's enjoying school at St Mary & St Michael,' said Mrs Henke. After Emily's procedure, the couple feel more relaxed about Lucy, although Mr Henke said that doctors did not know what to expect. 'The treatment has been experimental only with animals in laboratories before. Although they are reasonably confident, they are nervous about saying anything at the moment,' said Mr Henke. 'But if it works, it will be wonderful. Looking to the future, one donated liver would be able to treat many people as it is split up. The waiting list for children is short, but for adults it is very long.' They thanked their family, friends, work colleagues, Dr Simpson and everyone at Cobo Surgery, Dr Lean and Princess Elizabeth Hospital staff for all their help and support.