Rare PaedCard heart transplant conducted successfully

Thane: In a rare case of PaedCard heart transplant, a 7-year-old brain dead girl gave a new lease of life to another young girl after a team of local doctors successfully conducted the surgery today.

The entire process of shifting of the vital organ from PD Hinduja National & Medical Research Centre in Mahim to Fortis Hospital in Mulund was completed in 18 minutes as traffic police of Mahim, Vikhroli and Mulund had strategically laid out a green corridor on the entire stretch of 26 km.

The adult cardiac and paediatric cardiac team came together to conduct the transplant procedure that concluded early this morning, an official release from Fortis Hospital said.

"The young donor, a 7-year-old girl, admitted at PD Hinduja hospital had suffered from Cerebral Venous Thrombosis and was declared brain dead consequently. Kin of the young patient consented to donate her heart, kidneys and liver, which were sent to hospitals in Thane and Pedder Road fordeserving candidates," the release said.

Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital, Dr S Narayani claimed that this is the second PaedCard transplant conducted in the state.

Head of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Dr Vijay Agarwal, said, "It is an exceptional task to find a compatible match, in terms of age, weight, height and blood group. We found a perfect match in this donor from Hinduja Hospital. It has given a ray of hope to this young patient."

The transplant surgery has been successfully concluded and the patient has been moved to the ICU and is now stable.

She will be kept under observation for the next 48-72 hours, he added.