U-of-I doctors complete unique liver surgery

Surgeons at University Hospitals in Iowa City performed a rare type of livertransplant operation over the weekend — the first time it’s been attemptedin Iowa. In the 18-and-a-half hour procedure, a Dubuque man received half ofhis son’s liver — and both men are recovering.Dr. Carol Scott-Conner is head of the surgery department at the U-IHospitals & Clinics, and she witnessed the operation which ran Fridaymorning through early Saturday morning. She says the procedure is verycomplicated as the liver was cut exactly in half for the transplant.Dr. Scott-Conner says if this procedure is perfected and used elsewhere, itcould increase the global number of liver transplants by 30 percent. Shesays the donor was up and walking on Sunday and his liver should regenerateto normal size within a few weeks.The donor was 23-year-old William Beyer Junior — who gave the upper half ofhis liver to his father, 58-year-old William Beyer Senior. Both are fromDubuque. The senior Beyer had cirrhosis.