A team of doctors at the Government General Hospital's Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery carried out two heart transplants in the last three weeks.
The surgeries were carried out on July 16 and 19. Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam on Thursday urged all departments in the hospital to take initiatives on carrying out such operations which require superior surgical skills and cutting edge technology.
These initiatives would help poor people get better treatment, he said.
“Post operative care is crucial for poor patients and government hospitals are focussing more on it. Permission has been granted to procure medicines locally to tackle problems of short supply of medicines,” said Mr. Panneerselvam.
Surgeons at the hospital asked the Minister for help in procuring equipment such as Cryofreezer for supporting such challenging surgeries by the hospital.
According to doctors, the two recipients of the transplant, a 46-year-old male and 61-year-old male, belong to the economically weaker sections of the society. They were diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, which left them with the only option of heart transplant.
The operation was supported by the State Cadaver Organ Transplant Programme, Traffic Police and other departments of the hospital. Both the recipients are said to be stable.
The team of surgeons that performed the surgery was led by K. Sundaram.
