Camden Health: Brendan Burnaby | Dr James O'Beirne

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Camden New Journal - HEALTH by SARA NEWMAN
Published: 18 September 2008

Brendon Burnaby with Dr James O’Beirne

Liver clinic makes treating patients a smoother operation

Centre means rapid diagnosis while pioneering methods allow doctors safely to tackle issue

BRENDON Burnaby’s skin has turned yellow.
The 27-year old labourer is lying in a bed at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, after being diagnosed with severe inflammation of the liver, which doctors believe may have been caused by body-building supplements.
Consultant physician Dr James O’Beirne says the most likely cause of Brendon’s condition is the Hydroxycut compounds present in the supplement he was taking.
Dr O’Beirne said: “The damage to the liver is consistent with the action of a drug or toxin, although we can’t prove it. It looks likely.
“It should get better with time, but 10 per cent of cases like this may ultimately require liver transplantation.”
Brendon is likely to take three to six months to recover. But it could have been far worse.
Dr O’Beirne and surgeon Dinesh Sharma are two of the medical staff at the Royal Free’s Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, who have spent the past four months in discussion with business managers and primary care trust bosses ahead of setting up a one-stop jaundice clinic.
Every Tuesday morning it provides patients with an opportunity to meet doctors who specialise in liver disease and blockages of the bile ducts and surgeons who can advise as to whether an operation is necessary.
Rather than waiting two weeks for a GP’s referral letter to reach the specialists, who can then arrange a consultation and in turn arrange another meeting to administer treatment, patients can be diagnosed using an endoscopic procedure if necessary.
It has been three weeks since Brendon first felt nauseous, but it took just days for doctors and surgeons at the clinic to meet with him, find him a bed and conduct a scan, a blood test and liver biopsy – a process that normally takes more than a month.
Brendon said: “I’m lucky to be in one of the best places in the world to get sick.
“But how does a young guy in excellent physical condition get struck down like this? It was when I stopped taking the supplements that it hit me. Nothing else I have done in a long time has been a risk factor.”
The pioneering biopsy procedure at the Royal Free involves threading a catheter via the patient’s neck through a vein leading to the liver rather than piercing the stomach and risking haemorrhage of the vital organ.
Dr O’Beirne said: “It’s technically more tricky but, as one of the leading specialist units in diagnosing liver problems, we can offer these kinds of benefits.”
No extra funds have been allocated to the clinic, which is expected to meet and exceed government guidelines on treating patients within 18 weeks.
Dr O’Beirne added: “All we have done is consolidate six weeks of tests into one day and given GPs greater access to the service. They are also informed about what’s happened to their patients so we’re working together much better.”

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