Two Decades of Care: Renji Hospital Hosts a Heartwarming Children's Day Reunion

Marking the 20th anniversary of Renji Hospital performing pediatric liver transplant surgery and the approach of Children's Day, the hospital's Department of Liver Surgery held a themed event that brought together nearly 100 families of liver transplant recipients. A charitable fast-track was set up on site, where the "Liver Care Alliance" - formed by the departments of Liver Surgery, Gastroenterology and Ultrasound - provided free blood tests, hepatic vascular ultrasound examinations and multidisciplinary consultations for the children, updating each child's dynamic health records one by one and offering personalized postoperative follow-up recommendations. Zhang Jianjun, level-2 professor of liver surgery, explained that the event grew out of parents voluntarily returning to the hospital for follow-up visits.

It began with about 50 participating families and has now grown to more than 100. Xia Qiang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Renji Hospital, recalled that before pediatric liver transplantation was introduced in 2006, there were almost no effective treatments for end-stage pediatric liver disease. Today the technique leads the world and has saved large numbers of children, he said, adding that the department is pressing ahead with research in the hope of freeing young patients from anti-rejection medication as early as possible.