HYDERABAD: A donor’s heart, which was retrieved from a constable—M Veerababu, who was declared as brain dead by Yashoda hospital at Malakpet—was transported to Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in a green channel within 12 minutes with the help of traffic police and transplanted to a 30-year-old painter.
This is the first time that a donor’s heart was allotted to a patient at NIMS from a private hospital.
According to a press release, the donor—Veerababu, who was working at Kondapur—met with an accident when his two wheeler was hit by a bus at Gollagudem near Khammam a few days ago. He was rushed to Yashoda hospital where he declared as brain dead. As he had head injuries, the doctors at Yashoda hospital said the chances of improvement in his condition were almost nil. His family members were also convinced about his condition and the hospital requested them to agree for an organ donation under Jeevandan organ donation initiative.
After retrieving the heart, they transported within 12 minutes after traffic police provided a green channel and cleared traffic between Malakpet and NIMS Punjagutta. The donor heart brought to NIMS in an ambulance, which started at 1.44 pm from Yashoda Hospital and reached NIMS by 1.56 pm on Wednesday.
According to NIMS cardiac surgery chief Dr Amaresh Rao Mallampati, the heart was implanted to a 30-year-old person, who is also from Khammam, as he was suffering from Dilated Cardiomyopathy for the past three years. “Generally it costs nearly Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh in private hospitals, but this was done freely under Aarogya Sri scheme. A team of the doctors, including Dr Kaladhar, Dr Madhusudhan, Dr Gopal, Dr Padmaja, and Dr Narmada performed the surgery,” he said.
According to officials, this is the first time that a donor’s heart was allotted to a patient at NIMS from a private hospital. Due to the chronic heart condition of the painter, the transplant surgeons at NIMS had registered his name in Jeevandan on Tuesday and within a day the hospital was allocated with a matching donor heart under Jeevandan.
In the last few years, the surgeons at NIMS have successfully conducted five heart transplants. All five heart transplants were from donor hearts retrieved from patients who were declared as brain dead at NIMS.
Jeevandan incharge Dr G Swarnalatha thanked the traffic police for creating the green channel. She said despite the pandemic, organ transplant surgeries have continued in Hyderabad, she said.
