25-year-old registers for first cadaver heart transplant in city
Admitted to PD Hinduja Hospital's intensive care unit, a 25-year-old former call centre employee is waiting for a cadaver heart donation. Priyanka Vora reports.
Admitted to PD Hinduja Hospital's intensive care unit, a 25-year-old former call centre employee is waiting for a cadaver heart donation. He suffers from end-stage cardiac failure, a condition in which the heart does not respond adequately to medical or surgical treatment, and is the first patient to register with the city's Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC) for a heart transplant.
On August 2, his heart had stopped functioning for a few seconds. "Doctors told me that my heart has weakened to such an extent that I could suffer a cardiac arrest any moment. The only treatment available is a heart transplant and I want to give it a chance," said the father of two who quit his job in 2009, as he could not exert himself.
The end-stage cardiac failure is a result of his congenital condition, hypertrophic non-obstructive (dilated) cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscles are damaged resulting in a lower blood supply to the body. His cardiologist, Dr Nitin Burkule, said, "His heart muscles don't have contracting power and the heart is pumping very poorly. There is no cure for his condition. In his case, replacing the heart seems to be the only option."
If he gets a cadaver donor on time, he would be the first person in the city to undergo a heart transplant. "I am lucky that at least I have an option to survive," said the man who was diagnosed with the condition when he was 12-year-old. "I would get exhausted even if I walked ten steps."
"He has almost died twice. So, we decided to admit him for round-the-clock monitoring. We evaluated him for a heart transplant and got him registered immediately," said Dr Jnanesh Thacker, cardiovascular thoracic surgeon, PD Hinduja Hospital, who will perform the transplant.
"Apart from the blood group and tissue, we need to match the size of the cadaver donor and the recipient. The heart of a 5ft tall donor cannot be transplanted to a 6ft tall man," said Dr Thacker.
Till they find a cadaver donor, doctors will implant a defibrillator in his heart to monitor its electric activity