38 years old man walks free after a complex & rare surgery held at Sahyadri Hospital”
Pune, 25 March 2019: A 38 years old IT professional from Pune walked free barely within two weeks after a complex heart transplant surgery which was performed at Sahyadri Super Speciality Hospital Deccan. For this transplant the heart was transported from Sassoon Hospital to Sahyadri.
The donor was a 25 year old working in Pune and a native of Ambejogai who met with a road accident near Khed Shivapur. The patient was declared brain dead and his parents gave the consent for transplant. This surgery was the first heart transplant of Sahyadri Hospitals.
The heart transplant team led by Heart Transplant surgeon, Dr. Manoj Durairaj who is the Programme Director of Heart and Lung Transplantation at Sahyadri Hospitals. The members of the transplant team included Heart Transplant Anesthetists Dr Shantanu Shastri and Dr Suhas Sonawane, Cardiac Surgeons Dr R. Kaushish and Dr Sandeep Tadas, Cardiologists Dr. Palshikar, Dr. Palimkar and Dr. Bhise.
Giving details about the case, Dr Manoj Durairaj said, “The patient was diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy since he was in 10th grade. He also had history of pericardial effusion (fluid in the sac surrounding the heart) which had to be removed. This heart ailment, forced the patient to leave his job and he was home bound due to severe breathlessness. Heart Transplant was the only option to save him and was on the waiting list for a suitable donor. In this case, there were many technical issues including a huge clot in the right chamber of the heart measuring 7cm, completely adherent heart to the chest wall due to previous removal of pericardial fluid, thickened heart walls which were calcified due to the disease process making the anastomoses or areas where tissues are joined prone to bleeding and breakdown while suturing. In addition, the Lung pressures were on the higher side due to severe left heart weakness (pulmonary artery pressure was on higher side due to Left ventricular dysfunction). Since recipient’s heart was very dilated, there was a sizing mismatch for all the chambers and vessels which needed to be connected. Patient was on anticoagulant due to the clot in the heart.”
Dr Durairaj added, “Restrictive Cardiomyopathy (RCM) is a rare form of heart muscle disease that is characterized by restrictive filling of the ventricles. In this disease the contractile function (squeeze) of the heart and wall thicknesses are usually normal, but the relaxation or filling phase of the heart is very abnormal. It is considered most difficult subset for transplant in view of involvement of other organs especially liver and kidney. We are happy that the patient is now doing fine and can get back to routine in few days.”
“The transplant was successfully done and we had kept the patient under observation in the Intensive Care Unit. While organ donation awareness is increasing we are making sure that finances are never a deterrent so that all sections of the society can benefit from transplant. We also would like to salute the exemplary work that ZTCC team lead by Arti Gokhale is doing to co-ordinate the entire process and help those in need, said Dr. Durairaj.
Dr Ketan Apte, Unit Head Sahyadri Hospitals said, “This is an important milestone for us. Leading from the front Sahyadri Hospitals now has facilities for Kidney, Liver, Pancreas, Corneal and Heart Transplant in Pune. The hospital also received the Notto award for organ donation last year. Having achieved this major milestone, our journey forward will be more ambitious as we step up organ donation awareness activities. We salute all those donors and their families who have made this possible with their noble deed and gave a new lease of life to the needy.”
