Heart transplant gives new lease of life to 56-year-old

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New Delhi: Quick response from a team of doctors here helped a 56-year-old patient get a new lease of life as the doctors carried out a heart transplant within three hours of harvesting from a donor in Jaipur.

"The patient is recovering well after the successful transplant," said Dr Ajay Kaul, Chairman and Head of Department, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS), BLK Super Speciality Hospital, who led the team of doctors harvest the heart and transplant it.

The patient -- a government employee from Kanauni village of Ghaziabad -- had been suffering from an incurable condition called dilated cardiomyopathy.

The heart transplant became possible as a 30-year-old male, a resident of Jaipur, was declared brain-dead at SMS Hospital in Jaipur following a road accident couple of days back. While the kidneys and eyes were used for the needy in Jaipur only, liver and heart were sent to Delhi.

The doctors at the hospital swung into action when the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) under Directorate General of Health Services informed them about the donor and availability of a heart.

Kaul and his team left for Jaipur by an early morning flight on Monday and harvested the heart at night. They took a 10.05 p.m flight from Jaipur and landed in Delhi at 10.47 p.m before time as a special case.

A green corridor was created from IGI Airport to BLK Super Speciality Hospital covering a distance of 15 km in just over 18 minutes at night. The heart was transplanted late into the night.

"The recipient was suffering from heart complications for past a few years. A pacemaker was implanted in July 2017. The patient used to have bouts of blackouts and would faint after four to five months of the pacemaker implant," said Kaul, adding that heart transplant was an ideal option.

The transplant was conducted on humanitarian grounds without any monetary consideration as the patient, who has two sons and two daughters, belongs to lower income group, said the hospital in a statement.