K'taka’s 1st ‘Heart and Lungs’ transplant patient makes rapid strides in recovery

Bengaluru: A 68-year-old retired Central Govt. employee from Bangalore who recently underwent ‘heart and lungs’ transplant at Narayana Health City earlier this month, is presenting speedy recovery. With this surgery, he became with the first patient in Karnataka to receive ‘heart and lungs’ from a single recipient. Within 10 days of the surgery, the patient started speaking effortlessly and by now he has started walking as well. He has become an inspiration to many around him in the hospital.

Speaking about the case Dr. Julius Punnen Senior Consultant, Cardiothoracic and Transplant Surgeon at Narayana Health City said, “Heart and lungs function in tandem to supply and deliver oxygen to the rest of the body, which makes this transplant more complicated than single organ transplant. For this transplant organs were retrieved as a bloc and transplanted to the recipient’s body. Such requirements and conditions are rare in our country. The surgery is successful and the patient is responding to the treatment positively.”

He came to Narayana Health City six months back for consultation regarding his ‘End Stage Lung Disease’ for which lung transplant was the only solution. When Narayana Health doctors conducted full body check-up, he was also diagnosed with severe Coronary Artery Disease. As his health condition was not suitable for Bypass Surgery, the patient was registered at the state nodal agency ‘Jeevasaarthakathe’ in Nov’18 for Heart and Lungs.

“Lung transplant is complicated, risky and the chances of infections are higher and in this case we were doing bloc transplant which made the surgery more complex. The patient was under observation in ITU for few days after the surgery to avoid any complications. The organs were transported via green corridor with the help of Bangalore Traffic Police on 3 Jan 2019,” said Dr. Basha Khan, Senior Consultant Pulmonology/Intensive Care and Medical Director-Lung Transplant, Narayana Health City.

The heart and lungs retrieval and transplant was performed by Dr. Julius Punnen – Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic and Transplant Surgeon, Dr. Varun Shetty – Consultant Cardiothoracic and Transplant Surgeon, Dr. Bagirath Raghuraman, Senior Consultant, Program Director Heart Transplant, Dr. Vijay C L, Consultant – Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Govardhan Reddy, Associate Consultant – Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Inaythulla Khan, Associate Consultant – Cardiothoracic Surgery. Team of Physicians led by Dr. Basha Khan – Senior Consultant Pulmonology/Intensive Care and Medical Director – Lung Transplant, Dr. Syed Tousheed – Consultant Pulmonology and Dr. Murali Mohan, Senior Consultant – Pulmonology, all at Narayana Health City, Bangalore

Sharing his joy, the patient, said, “This is truly a rebirth not only for me but my family as well. Getting ‘heart and lungs’ in less than 3 months of registering at Jeevasaarthakathe is also a miracle. Donating organs is a noble cause and I am thankful to the family of my donor. My entire family has taken a pledge to encourage everyone around us to become donors and help people in need.”

The patient received ‘heart and lungs’ from a 24 yr old male from Bangalore who met with a road accident and was admitted at a city hospital. Doctors declared him ‘Brain Dead’ and the family consented in the presence of Jeevasaarthakathe for organ donation to save many lives.

Sharing her experience, patients wife said, “My husband has been dealing with serious health concerns from past three years and things got more complicated in the last couple of months. We went to so many hospitals for right diagnosis but our efforts were mostly in vein. I am grateful we came to Narayana Health City for advise otherwise we might have lost him due to lack of knowledge of his heart condition. We are lucky that within three months of registration at Jeevasaarthakathe we found a matching donor. Team of doctors and administrative staff at Narayana Health City have been extremely helpful and supportive to my husband and my family.”