Ukranian national receives heart from Indian donor

Team Udayavani, Apr 11, 2017, 12:41 PM IST

Thane: A 27-year-old Ukranian national got a new lease of life after she underwent heart transplant at a hospital in neighbouring Mumbai following organ donation by the family of a young road accident victim in Surat.

The harvested heart was yesterday transported from Unity Hospital in Gujarat’s Surat to Fortis Hospital in suburban Mulund in 1.32 hours, covering a distance of 317 km.

The recipient, a housewife from Ukraine, was suffering from post-partum dilated cardiomyopathy, an uncommon form of heart failure that happens during the last month of pregnancy or up to five months after giving birth. The disorder carries a high mortality rate, a Fortis hospital release said.

The harvested heart was taken out of the Surat-based hospital at 09.30 AM and transferred into a chartered flight that was on stand-by. The flight took off at 9.57 AM and landed in Mumbai at 10.30 AM.

The ambulance carrying the harvested heart reached the Fortis Hospital in Mulund at 11.02 PM, the release said.

The organ donation in Surat happened after a 22-year-old man, who worked with a bank, was declared brain dead following a road accident.

The deceased’s family was counselled by an NGO to donate his heart, liver, pancreas, corneas and kidneys.

With the consent in place, the retrieval process started and the harvested heart was brought to Mumbai and transplanted into the Ukranian national who was on the wait list, the release said.

Fortis Hospital’s cardiac transplant team head Dr Anvay Mulay said, “The surgery has been concluded and the recipient is now stable. We will continue to monitor her in the ICU for next 48 to 72 hours.” 

“The donor family’s contribution to the wait listed patients is unmatched. They’ve saved and enriched lives of seven recipients through their young son,” he said.

This is the 46th heart transplant carried out in the metropolis, the release said.

“This achievement is fruition of efforts put in by all stakeholders who worked in tandem to breathe new life into our and six other deserving patients,” Fortis hospital’s zonal director Dr S Narayani said.

“We extend our humble appreciation to the donor family. It is because of them that our clinicians have managed to save this young lady,” Narayani said.