Another Maharashtra feat: Twin transplants, lungs flown to TN

MUMBAI: In the first such attempt in the state, a 24-year-old man underwent a simultaneous

heart

and liver

transplant

surgery at

Fortis

Hospital, Mulund. The challenging medical feat was made possible after the family of a 40-year-old woman donated her organs on Sunday. In another first, the

donor

’s lungs were flown to Chennai from the city.

The 24-year-old resident of Silvassa was waitlisted with the Mulund hospital since August 2017 after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and cirrhosis of the liver. The pain and discomfort did not allow him to continue with studies. The heart was retrieved by Dr Anvay Mulay, head of cardiac transplant, and the

liver

by surgeon Dr Rakesh Rai, as the teams worked over seven to eight hours to transplant the organs into the

recipient

.

The donor was a 40-year-old housewife from Mulund whose husband consented to donate her organs after she was declared brain dead at Fortis. The mother of one was shifted to Fortis from a local nursing home after she suffered a brain stroke and collapsed at her home. The donation saved lives of five

organ

failure patients. While her lungs were flown to Apollo Hospital, Chennai, her kidneys were allocated to patients at INS Ashwini, Colaba, and Jaslok Hospital. Dr S Narayani, zonal director, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said the tremendous grit shown by the donor family even during their time of grief saved five deserving lives.

Another cadaver donation took place at Jupiter Hospital in Thane on Sunday. The donor was a 53-year-old Ahmednagar woman who was brought to the hospital with complaints of severe headache. She was initially treated at a local hospital and shifted to the Thane hospital when her condition worsened. The donor had suffered brain hemorrhage. The doctors declared her brain dead on Saturday night.

Her husband, who volunteers with Narendra Dabholkar’s Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, said he was aware of organ donations and willingly agreed to donate the organs. Doctors could retrieve her kidneys, liver and corneas. Her skin too was donated.