Mumbai records 26th heart transplant, organ flown in from Pune

A heart was flown in from Pune to Mumbai on Thursday morning to facilitate the city’s 26th heart transplant since August 2015

A heart was flown in from Pune to Mumbai on Thursday morning to facilitate the city’s 26th heart transplant since August 2015.

A 45-year-old man had been brought to a hospital in Pune after a road accident. He was declared brain dead. His family members agreed to donate the heart (HT Photo)

The donor was declared brain dead at Ruby Hall Hospital, Pune on Wednesday evening. The 45-year-old man had been brought to the hospital after a road accident. His family members agreed to donate the heart.

According to doctors at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH) in Andheri, where the transplant took place, the recipient, a 51-year old man, had a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy.

“The recipient is from Vadodara, Gujarat, but we had asked him to stay in Mumbai, in case we get a donor. So, he was staying with his relatives in Mulund,” said Dr Rekha Barot, organ transplant coordinator KDAH.

She added that a team of doctors left for Pune on Thursday around 5pm, after the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre informed the hospital of the potential donor. “The heart was retrieved by the doctors and was found fit for a transplant. It was brought to KDAH via a private jet in 59 minutes,” said Dr Barot.

The donor’s family also donated the liver, which was transplanted on a patient in Pune.