Liver transplant hope for itchy boy
A BOY who suffers from a life-threatening condition that causes his body to itch unbearably is to be assessed for a liver transplant.
Four-year-old Aaron Higgins s uf f e r s from Alagille syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects all the vital organs.
Next month Aaron, from Baillieston, Glasgow, who has already endured 15 operations, will be assessed for a liver transplant that could ease the itching and help prolong his life.
His immune system has no memory so he can pick up infections such as chicken pox repeatedly.
The average life expectancy for affected children was, until recently, 20. However a transplant could offer hope for Aaron and his mother Jacqueline, 40.
She said: “Watching him suffer is unbearable. The itching is the worst of his problems. He doesn’t sleep. He stands at the top of the stairs crying, ‘Help me’.
“The doctors said it was like the equivalent of half a million midge bites. It’s in his ears, up his nose. He gets really frustrated and angry. Nothing helps and his body bleeds with the scratching.
“I don’t think we are going to have much option than go for a transplant.”
Aaron was diagnosed with Alagille syndrome, shortly after birth. He had severe jaundice and at one point stopped breathing.
A blood test confirmed he had the condition, which affects only about one in 100,000 children. It is an inherited disorder in which a person has fewer than the normal number of small bile ducts inside the liver.