Another inter-state transplant between Surat and Mumbai helps 42-yr-old get a heart

The process to transplant the heart took place early Wednesday morning after a medical team from Mulund’s Fortis Hospital reached Surat to retrieve the heart. The family of the deceased also agreed to donate both his kidneys and liver along with his heart.

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According to head of cardiac transplant department at Fortis Hospital, Dr Anvay Mulay, the heart was retrieved around 2.50 am by a team of surgeons, taken to the Surat airport in 14 minutes and transferred to a chartered flight by 3.18 am. By 3.55 am, the flight landed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji airport, from where it was immediately taken in an ambulance to Fortis Hospital in Mulund. By 4.14 pm, the procedure to attach the heart had begun.

The complex surgery involved connecting arteries and veins using immune-suppressants to avoid rejection of a new organ by the body.
The heart transplant took over four hours. By Wednesday morning, the recipient, a Navi-Mumbai resident, was shifted to intensive care unit for observation. “The surgery was successful. The patient is now stable. He will be kept under observation for the next 48 to 72 hours,” said Mulay.

This is the second heart transplant so far this year. On January 3, a 16-year-old Vikhroli-based girl had been transplanted with a heart that was flown from Indore after the death of a 20-year-old woman.

In 2015, Mumbai first ventured into heart transplants. Till now, seven heart transplants have been conducted.

What is dilated cardiomyopathy?

Dilated cardiomyopathy or DCM is a condition which arises when the pumping chamber of the heart, the left ventricle, becomes weak due to enlargement. The decreased heart function can affect the lungs, liver, and other body systems.