NE HEALTH BUREAU
CHENNAI, DEC 10
Hearts and lung obtained from donors in Chandigarh and Visakhapatnam, were airlifted to Chennai to save three lives including a child, MGM Healthcare, where the transplants were performed, said on Thursday.
The organs, obtained from deceased donors, were airlifted, and they gave a new lease of life to three patients.
“Two heart transplants including a small child, and a lung transplant were simultaneously performed in three operating rooms. All the patients are recovering,” the hospital said.
It was a race against time as the teams coordinated the transport of the organs through green corridors in three cities. A team comprising about 60 persons led by the chief surgeon Dr K R Balakrishnan, head of anaesthesia Dr Suresh Rao and chief cardiologist Dr Ravikumar, were involved in the Herculean feat.
#ChandigarhAirport provides seamless transfer of Human Organ.
Today Cadaveric Organ(Heart) was transported from PGIMER,Chandigarh to MGM Healthcare,Chennai by #VistaraAirlines IXC-DEL-MAA,UK-707/837 at 1525hrs.#organ #lifesaver@AAI_Official @aaiRedNR @MoCA_GoI @MGMHealthcare pic.twitter.com/bTgJgWoPVw— Chandigarh Airport (@ixcairport) December 8, 2021
Six surgeons, 17 anaesthetists, 40 nursing and para medical staff besides 6 transplant coordinators were also part of the team, the hospital said.
“The entire process, right from harvesting, transporting the organs across a total distance covering 6,400 km and successfully transplanting them took a total of 14 hours,” a release from MGM Healthcare said.
Upon receiving notification about the potential donors, two teams from MGM Healthcare, Chennai, rushed to Chandigarh and Visakhapatnam, coordinated harvesting, transport of organs and in addition arranged multiple green corridors.
“Travelling from Chandigarh to Chennai without direct air connectivity is not an easy task. The team had to change two aircraft, two separate security checks in two airports and different airport gates to reach Chennai, travelling over 7 hours,” claimed Dr Balakrishnan, director, institute of heart and lung transplant and mechanical circulatory support, MGM Healthcare.
“The cold ischemic time which is the time between removal of the heart from the donor and implanting the heart in the recipient was 8 hours and double of the normally accepted 4 hours,” he further explained.
The recipient was very sick in intensive care awaiting the donor organ for a long time. The new heart is functioning normally, he added. The organ from Visakhapatnam was transported by an air ambulance. Dr Ananth Mohan Pai, director, medical services, MGM Healthcare acknowledged the decision of the donors’ families for showing extreme benevolence in their time of personal tragedy and in agreeing to donate.
