Heart transplant saves two in Mumbai

A 56-year-old man from Borivli and a 26-year-old man from Pune, both of whom had a fatal heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy, received the donor hearts

Doctors conducted two back-to-back heart transplants in just eight hours on Saturday, saving two end-stage organ failure patients. A 56-year-old man from Borivli and a 26-year-old man from Pune, both of whom had a fatal heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy, received the donor hearts.

“The Borivli man was working overseas, but he came back home last year. He was receiving treatment in Mumbai,” said a doctor from Fortis Hospital, Mulund, where the transplants were conducted.“The Pune patient was diagnosed with the condition 18 months ago. He was put on the waiting list for a heart transplant a month ago,” he said.

According to the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee — a Mumbai non-governmental organisation that facilitates heart transplants — these were the 71st and 72nd heart transplants recorded since the facility was set up in August 2015.

The donors, a 26-year-old farm labourer from Wardha, and 46-year-old man from Pune, were both declared brain dead after suffering injuries in road accidents. Their families consented to donate their kidneys, livers, corneas, and hearts.

“These donations confirm that there is an increase in awareness among the public about organ donation. Both families helped save many lives even in their time of grief. It is because of their determination and decision to support the cause that these two recipients received a new lease of life,” said Dr Anvay Mulay, head of cardiac transplant team, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, who conducted both the transplants.