A team of doctors at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on Tuesday performed a heart transplant on a 20-year-old woman, replacing her diseased heart with one from a brain-dead donor. This is the first heart transplant at the hospital in six years – the last such procedure was performed in July 2010.
According to a senior cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital, the woman had end-stage heart disease - dilated cardiomyopathy. On Monday night, GH received an alert about a heart being available.
A team from the hospital went to Global Hospitals, Perumbakkam on Tuesday morning, where the heart was harvested. The team left Perumbakkam by 10.50 a.m. and arrived in GH by 11.20 a.m. via a green corridor, the doctor said.
The transplant surgery, performed by an 11-member team took about four-and-a-half hours, he said.
“So far, she is doing well. We have a special ICU for transplant patients where she will be taken,” said the surgeon.
The recipient, her family said, first fell ill five years ago, after she had completed her class X exams.
“She was dizzy and breathless. We first took her to a private doctor in Tondiarpet, who told us her heart was weak and put her on medication. We consulted several doctors after that but she was becoming sicker. In April, we came to GH,” her elder sister said. The family lives in Perambur.
Here, doctors told the family the patient required a heart transplant. She was admitted at the hospital for a few weeks and then, went home, awaiting a suitable organ.
“On Monday night, we got a call telling us that a heart was available. We brought her and she was admitted around 10 p.m.,” her sister said.
“With this surgery, the heart transplant programme at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital has been re-started,” said dean of the hospital, M.K. Muralidharan.
