Maharashtra gets its 1st interstate heart transplant

Maharashtra has gone a step forward in the area of heart transplant by conducting its first interstate procedure on Saturday. This was facilitated with the help of the airport and traffic authority, which formed a green corridor between Surat and Mumbai.

A 58-year-old employee of Indian Oil, Mumbai, who was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy got a new lease of life on Saturday at Fortis Hospital, Mulund when a 45-year old donor from Surat donated his heart. The patient was admitted at Mahavir Hospital in Surat, Gujarat, when the family members gave their consent to donate the heart.

Talking to The Asian Age exclusively from Surat, Nilesh Mandlewala, president of Donate Life that helped in the donation said, “The donor and his wife met with an accident on December 16 while coming back from a relative’s house on a two-wheeler in Surat. A jeep hit them from behind. Both of them got injured but the donor’s condition was serious. The CT scan showed that he had skull fracture and blood clot. On Friday, he was declared brain dead and then the family members contacted us.”

The Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre, Ahmedabad took his kidneys and liver while Fortis Mulund took his heart for transplant.

The airport and traffic authorities came together and formed a green corridor between Surat and Mumbai. According to hospital authority, the heart was picked up from Mahavir Hospital at 10.36 pm and reached Surat Airport at 10.45 pm. Then it was transported in a chartered flight that took off at 10.50 pm and reached Mumbai airport at 11.43 pm. The green corridor was formed from gate number 8 of domestic airport to Military Road, followed by Santa Cruz Chembur Link Road—Chedda Nagar to Eastern Express Highway—Airoli Junction. It reached Fortis Hospital, Mulund at 12.08 am.

“The preserved heart reached the operation threatre in a record time of one hour and 32 minutes, covering 269 km across the state lines. The surgery was concluded at 3.45 am and the patient was moved to the ICU by 5 am,” said an official from the hospital.

Dr Anvay Mulay, chief of cardiac surgery who conducted the surgery, said, “We need more such families to come forth and help, save and enrich more lives. The surgery has been successful; the patient is now stable and will be kept under observation for the next 48-72 hours”.