In a breakthrough surgery, doctors at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital have shared that they have been successful in administering a liver transplant on two patients simultaneously, a 17 years old high school student and a toddler of 2.

The operations were performed on Friday, and were a first for the hospital. Split-liver transplants are considered extremely rare and highly challenging with regards to technology involved.

The surgery lasted for 8 hours, and the recipients of the donor liver were 2-year-old Frank Sroka and 17-year-old Christian Liberto.

Both the patients are now recovering well. While the baby had a rare disease that blocked his bile duct, the teenager was faced with a rare chronic liver disease.

The liver used in the operation was donated by a deceased man, and it was large enough to be shared by both the boys.

Due to its regenerative properties, a piece of healthy liver can successfully grow into a complete organ in nearly a month.