A Chennai man spent nearly four months on life support machines and recovered without a lung transplant after contracting Covid-19, the hospital that treated him has claimed. The 56-year-old man was discharged by the Rela Hospital, a multi-speciality quaternary care hospital in Chrompet, on Thursday. The hospital said he spent about 109 days on Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a procedure that oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, and ventilator support.
“He became a living miracle, as none in the country has ever recovered without a lung transplant after spending over 9 weeks with ECMO support. Further, the treatment and care at the hospital were such that Mr Mudijja did not require a lung transplant, even after 9 weeks of ECMO support,” Rela Hospital has claimed.
Mudijja tested positive for Covid-19 in April and CT scan before he was admitted to Rela Hospital indicated moderate Covid-19 pneumonia. His oxygen saturation level was at 92 per cent when he was transferred to the hospital and as his condition deteriorated, he required 10 litres of oxygen per minute.
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Dr C Arumugam, a heart and lung transplant surgeon at the hospital, decided to put him on ECMO support and the hospital continued the medicare despite the progress being minimal during the initial four to five weeks. “ECMO, traditionally, has been used as an intermittent arrangement until lung transplantation. However, now this team has truly made it a life-saving procedure. It was an amazing outcome for the patient and his family,” Dr Mohamed Rela, the hospital’s chairperson, said.
{{/usCountry}}Dr C Arumugam, a heart and lung transplant surgeon at the hospital, decided to put him on ECMO support and the hospital continued the medicare despite the progress being minimal during the initial four to five weeks. “ECMO, traditionally, has been used as an intermittent arrangement until lung transplantation. However, now this team has truly made it a life-saving procedure. It was an amazing outcome for the patient and his family,” Dr Mohamed Rela, the hospital’s chairperson, said.
{{/usCountry}}Rela said while speaking to reporters that it had allowed critical patients a better opportunity to survive and get back to their normal life.
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Mudijja started improving after being put on ECMO for almost 50 days and his lungs started performing better. Dr C Arumugam said they decided to proceed with the treatment plan but without a transplant. “On the 54th day of his ECMO support, the CT scan showed few areas of resolution and we gradually reduced the Ecmo support. And after 62 days into Ecmo, the patient came off Ecmo completely,” Dr Arumugam said. “We witnessed a miracle in front of our eyes. We kept him on minimal ventilator support with tracheotomy for another two weeks and weaned him off the ventilator on July 29, 2021,” he added.
“Mr Mudijja is the only patient in the country to recover without lung transplant after being hooked up to an artificial lung ECMO for over 60 days,” said Dr Arumugam.
(With agency inputs)