San Diego

A 42-year-old North County father of two received a liver transplant Wednesday, becoming the second patient to undergo the operation as part of UC San Diego Medical Center’s fledgling liver transplant program.

The man, whose name was withheld by the hospital at the request of his family, was listed in critical condition late Wednesday. Hospital officials said the transplanted liver came from a Nevada hospital. The operation took 14 hours.

The UCSD liver transplant program is the only one in San Diego and one of only a handful in the Western United States. An earlier transplant program at Sharp Memorial Hospital folded in 1984 after five of the first six patients died.

UCSD’s first patient, an unidentified San Diego woman who received a new liver March 9, remains hospitalized under treatment to prevent her body from rejecting the new organ. Doctors say liver transplant patients have a 70% chance of surviving beyond the first year.

UCSD Medical Center is paying for the estimated $160,000 cost of the first patient’s transplant, since she cannot afford it. However, officials said the second patient’s private insurance is expected to cover his costs.