India's first double lung transplant successfully performed on COVID-19 patient

The patient from Chandigarh was suffering from a severe lung problem called sarcoidosis that affected the lungs significantly which lead to fibrosis of lungs.

In a first for India, a team of doctors in a Hyderabad hospital successfully performed a double lung transplant on a COVID-19 patient. The patient, 32-year-old Rizwan (Monu) from Chandigarh, was suffering from a severe lung problem called sarcoidosis that affected the lungs significantly which lead to fibrosis of lungs.

Led by Dr Sandeep Attawar, the head of Heart and Lung Transplant department in Hyderabad's KIMS Hospital (Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences), this unique surgery was performed on Rizwan whose condition worsened rapidly when he contracted COVID-19. Attawar is considered a pioneer in heart and lung transplant surgeries in India.

Rizwan awaiting his double lung transplant and his situation further worsened when his oxygen requirement increased from 15 litres/min to 50 litres/min in the last eight weeks.

"Fortunately, a match to his lungs was found in a person declared braindead in West Bengal's Kolkata, and the harvested lungs were airlifted to Hyderabad to save the life of Rizwan. The procedure was complex and had little hope for errors. Post-discharge, this patient will need close monitoring, bio bubble environment and careful drug control for six weeks at least,'' Dr Attawar told Zee Media.

Monu is being discharged on Friday and is happy to go back home. While speaking to Zee Media, he said, "I had no hopes on my life given my precarious pre-surgery condition but after surgery, I am happy to be alive and I got a new life.''

It is a known fact that organs donation for transplants can save many lives but in India still, not many people come forward for organ donation voluntarily and as a result lakhs of people wait endlessly for organ transplant and many among them are not lucky as they pass away for not getting the required organ.