A 6-year-old girl born with a rare condition is recovering after receiving a new liver, pancreas and kidney at Holtz Children's Hospital.
Angela Bushi was born a healthy baby, but then things started to go wrong. At age 1, she developed insulin-dependent diabetes. At age 5, her liver began to fail after she developed flulike symptoms.
Doctors at Holtz Children's Hospital diagnosed Angela with Wolcott-Rallison syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
Angela's 18-month-old sister may have been born with the same condition. She went into liver failure after having flulike symptoms.
Fortunately, Angela's diagnosis was made before complications from the syndrome set in. She underwent the eight-hour transplant procedure Dec. 19. Doctors felt it was too dangerous to remove anything but her failing liver, so her tiny abdomen now holds two pancreases, four kidneys and a donated liver.
Doctors said transplanting all three organs at the same time helped to minimize complications. They said this is the first time transplants have been used in treatment for WRS.
Angela was released from the hospital Feb. 23 and no longer needs insulin treatment.