New Delhi: ABVIMS, Dr RML Hospital conducts first heart transplant on 32-year-old woman – ET HealthWorld

New Delhi: Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr RML Hospital on Wednesday conducted first heart transplant on a 32-year-old woman, said a statement by the hospital.

This is the historic and successful first heart transplant surgery at a Central government-run hospital in New Delhi, the statement read.

A team of cardiac surgeons from RML hospital and AIIMS led by Dr Narender Singh Jhajhria reached PGI Chandigarh the same evening and harvested the donor heart which was then expeditiously flown to New Delhi within two hours by dint of a green corridor arranged by PGIMER, Chandigarh, Delhi and Chandigarh police departments Airlines Manager of Alliance Air, the release stated.

The surgery was conducted by Dr Vijay Grover Head, CTVS and his team comprising of Dr Milind Hote, Dr Narender Jhajharia, Dr Palash Aiyer and cardiac anaesthetists led by Dr Ramesh Kashev and Dr Jaswinder Kohli. The surgery started at 9 pm on August 21, 2022, and was completed at 3 am on 22nd August 2022. The patient was transferred to CTVS ICU after surgery in a stable condition. The patient is recovering and has been extubated from the ventilator.

Speaking to the media agency, Dr Nandini Duggal, Director and MS, RML Hospital said, “It’s a big achievement and it is a history indeed which has been created by RML doctors here and it was a very difficult task but thanks to our dedicated teams because a great team effort and departments of CTVS cardiology, blood bank, Nodal officers for transplant, our transplant coordinator, then many other services from Chandigarh, from Delhi airport authorities, AIIMS, all they worked for hand in hand to make this successful.”

Another Dr from the team, Dr Vijay Grover, said, “This 32-year-old woman had been suffering for 7-8 years before she underwent the longest surgery, which is now normal. She was initially diagnosed with narrated cardiomyopathy when she was a child. The organ donor was a 15-year-old car accident victim who helped save six lives by giving up her body parts.”

This herculean endeavour was made possible by the seamless coordination of diverse departments including the blood bank team headed by Dr Kiran Choudhary, transplant coordinators of the hospital headed by Nodal officer (Transplant) Dr H S Mahapatra, under the overall supervision of Dr Nandini Duggal, Director and Medical Superintendent, ABVIMS, Dr R M L Hospital. There is a burgeoning need for more such successful heart transplants in the public health service institutions in our country which can benefit a huge stratum of socio-economically disadvantaged patients from far-flung areas. ABVIMS, RML hospital under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken the first step in this endeavour.

Laxmi Devi, a patient with terminal heart failure following childbirth was suffering from breathlessness severe enough to curtail even routine daily activities, the hospital said in a press statement.

Devi was evaluated at RML Hospital by a team of cardiologists led by Dr Ranjith Nath and Dr Praveen Agarwal who advised a heart transplant following which she was registered with the National Organ transplantation Organization (NOTTO).

A 15-year-old girl who died in a gruesome road accident on August 15, saved the lives of six people, including a woman from Bihar’s Bhagalpur with her organs.

On August 20, at about 9:00 am, the girl was declared brain dead and was kept on a ventilator to sustain her organs.

After counselling by the transplant coordinator at the Chandigarh hospital, her father, Ajo Manji, a daily wage labourer, came forward to donate all organs of Basu to needful persons suffering from end-stage diseases and awaiting healthy organs to have a new life.

On the morning of August 21, the NOTTO released an alert about the availability of a donor’s heart at the PGIMER-Chandigarh.