Liver Transplant in Kolkata for Patients from Bangladesh

Step one: send the reports before you travel

Many families arrive in Kolkata with a large file of reports but without the one or two tests that decide the plan. A short review before travel avoids that. Send clear photos or PDFs on WhatsApp to +91 70420 39420, with the patient's age, weight, main symptoms and a list of current medicines.

• Recent blood tests: complete blood count, liver function tests, INR (PT), creatinine, sodium, and blood group.
• Hepatitis B and C tests, if done.
• The latest ultrasound, and any CT or MRI of the abdomen — the report and, if possible, the images on a CD or download link.
• Endoscopy reports and discharge summaries from any hospital admissions.
• For a suspected liver tumour: the scan images and any biopsy report.

From these reports the team can usually say whether the patient needs a liver transplant evaluation, a different treatment such as liver cancer surgery, or further tests at home first. The team at Narayana RN Tagore Hospital understands Bengali-speaking families, so you can explain the history in the language you are comfortable with.

Medical visa and medical attendant visa

India issues a medical visa for patients travelling for treatment, and medical attendant visas for a limited number of family members accompanying them. For a liver transplant, the living donor usually also travels on an attendant visa linked to the patient's visa. The hospital's international patient desk normally provides an invitation letter once the plan is clear, which is submitted with the visa application.

Make sure the passport names of the patient and the donor match their other identity documents exactly. Spelling differences between the passport, national ID card and birth certificate are a common cause of delay later in the legal approval.

The donor and the legal approval

Organ transplants in India are governed by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994, amended in 2011, and its rules. They are designed to prevent any sale of organs, and they apply strictly when the patient or donor is a foreign national. Deceased-donor organs are allocated through the national and state organ-sharing network, where Indian citizens receive priority — so in practice, patients from Bangladesh almost always need a living donor liver transplant.

1. 1

   Choose a suitable related donor

   Usually a near relative — spouse, parent, son or daughter, brother or sister — aged roughly 18 to 55, in good health, with a compatible blood group. Read who can be a liver donor. Some blood-group mismatches can be managed with an ABO-incompatible transplant.

2. 2

   Prepare proof of relationship

   Typically birth certificates, national ID cards, marriage certificates, family documents and photographs that show how the donor and patient are related. The hospital will give you the exact list.

3. 3

   Documentation from Bangladesh

   For foreign nationals, certification of the relationship from the relevant embassy or High Commission of the patient's country is generally required. The hospital coordinators explain which office to approach — ask them before you travel, as it is easier to arrange from home.

4. 4

   Authorisation committee interview

   In Kolkata, the hospital's authorisation committee reviews the documents and interviews the patient, the donor and family members, often with an interpreter, to confirm the relationship and that donation is voluntary. Surgery is scheduled only after approval.

Where to stay and how long

Narayana RN Tagore Hospital is in Mukundapur, on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in south-east Kolkata. Many families rent a furnished flat or guest house in Mukundapur, Kalikapur, Ajoy Nagar, Santoshpur or nearby areas along the Bypass, so the patient can reach the hospital quickly for check-ups and emergencies. A kitchen matters: after transplant, freshly cooked home food is safer than hotel or street food.

Plan for one or two healthy caregivers in addition to the donor, since the donor is also recovering from major surgery. Read recovery after liver transplant for what these weeks look like. For costs and payment questions, see the liver transplant cost page and ask the international patient desk for a written estimate.

Follow-up after you return to Bangladesh

• Blood tests — liver function and tacrolimus (or other anti-rejection medicine) levels — are needed often at first, then less frequently. They can be done at a reliable laboratory in Bangladesh and the reports sent on WhatsApp for review.
• Medicines must never run out. Take enough supply home, learn the exact brand and dose, and ask how to obtain them locally before the stock ends. Switching brands should only be done on the team's advice.
• Identify a local doctor — a hepatologist or physician in Bangladesh — who can see the patient for fever, diarrhoea or other problems and coordinate with the transplant team.
• Return visits to Kolkata are usually planned at intervals in the first year, and whenever a problem needs scans or procedures.
• Long-term care — medicines, diet, infection prevention, work and pregnancy — is covered in life after liver transplant.