New Delhi: A 34-year-old man in New Delhi got a new lease of life after the traffic police were successful in creating a 3.6-km long green corridor to enable a hospital to transport a human heart in 3.28 minutes on Sunday. A team of doctors, led by Dr Z S Meharwal, Executive Director and Head of the Department of Adult Cardiac Surgery, VAD & Heart Transplantation Program, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI) performed the transplant procedure on a 35-year-old male from Delhi, who had been suffering from advanced heart failure.
The heart was harvested from a 30-year-old male, who had been declared brain dead after suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves.
FEHI received the information of a potential donor at another city hospital from National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) and upon confirmation from the organisation, the harvesting team left for the heart retrieval.
The team assessed the condition of the heart and retrieved it. A green corridor was then created, covering a distance of 3.6 kilometers between the hospitals in 3.28 minutes.
According to Dr. Vishal Rastogi, Head, Heart Failure Program, FEHI the 34-year-old male, was diagnosed with DCMP (Dilated Cardiomyopathy) EF-15% and had been admitted to FEHI with conditions of heart failure.
Elaborating on the condition of the patient, Dr Z S Meharwal, said, a heart transplant is required for patients where all the treatments fail. This patient had developed symptoms of heart transplant at a young age which progressed to an advanced heart failure. Optimum timing of the surgery (heart transplant) is essential in such cases for a good outcome before multi-organ dysfunction sets in.
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Dr Kousar Ali Shah, Zonal Director, FEHI, talking about the success of the surgery said, Our first heart transplant took place in January 2015. Over the past three and a half years, we have come a long way as this is the 11th Heart Transplant that has happened in FEHI. It is a complicated process, which involves coordination and synchronization with different stakeholders.
The doctor also praised the efforts of NOTTO and the Delhi Police.
We receive support from NOTTO, our clinicians and nursing staff, who play an imperative role in making each transplant a reality and the police and traffic authorities for minimizing the transport time. Dr. Shah said.
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The surgery went well and patient is stable and will be off ventilation soon, Dr. Meherwal added.
In India approximately 2,10,000 patients are waiting for organ and tissue transplants out of which only 8000 patients are able to get a donor. In spite of the Human Organ Transplant Act 1994, cadaveric transplant, that is, taking organs (heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas) as well as tissues (skin, corneas, tendons, bone) from brain dead as well as heart dead people, are still limited in number.
NDTV – Fortis More To Give campaign aims to promote organ donation and encourage Indians to take the pledge to be an organ donor. India has among the lowest rates of organ donation in the world at 0.5 donor per million population, which is far less compared to over 30 donors per million in some western countries. On an average, five lakh Indians die every year unable to get an organ transplant in time due to the shortage of organs. Every year on National Organ Donation Day on November 27, a Walkathon is organised across different cities of India to raise awareness, bust myths about organ donation and encourage people to become organ donors. Over the years, the campaign has gathered support from celebrities like actor Irrfan Khan, Swara Bhasker, Gul Panag and Former Indian Hockey Captain Sandeep Singh.
