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32-year-old gets new heart in first transplant surgery at Centre's hospital in Delhi
The donor’s heart was from PGI Chandigarh which was collected by a team of cardiac surgeons.
A successful and first-of-its-kind heart transplant surgery was conducted on Monday by a government-run hospital ABVIMS or Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr RML hospital, or Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi. The surgery was on a 32-year-old woman, Laxmi Devi as said in the hospital statement.
The donor’s heart was from PGI Chandigarh which was collected on the evening of Sunday by a team of cardiac surgeons led by Dr Narender Singh Jhajhria from RML hospital and AIIMS. Arrangements were then made to carry the donor’s heart through the air within two hours with the help of the Airlines Manager of Alliance Air and also the support of Delhi and Chandigarh police, Dr RML Hospital stated.
A 15-year-old girl who was declared brain dead after she met with an accident on August 20, was the donor and she saved six more lives with her organs.
Doctors at Dr. RML Hospital
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."
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The hospital press statement mentioned that patient, Laxmi Devi, was a patient with terminal heart failure following childbirth and was suffering from breathlessness severe enough to curtail even routine daily activities.
Another doctor 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."
ABVIMS, RML hospital under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken the first step in this endeavour.
(With inputs from agencies)
