A heart harvested from a 45-year-old in PGIMER here was transplanted to a terminally-ill patient, some 2,500 kilometers away in Chennai, doctors said on Friday. The donor's harvested liver, kidneys, and corneas were transplanted to five patients at the premier Chandigarh-based health institute itself.
The harvested heart was sent to the Chandigarh airport from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) by creating a 'green corridor' in 22 minutes and sent to Chennai in an aircraft that departed at 3.25 pm on Wednesday. "After landing in Chennai at 8.30 pm, the retrieved heart was taken to MGM Healthcare Hospital where it was transplanted to a terminally ill 52-year-old male patient," a statement issued by PGIMER said on Friday.
"Timing is the key in transplantation. It is commendable that the heart was retrieved and transported within such a short span of time despite the matching recipient being 2,500 kilometers away," PGIMER director Surjeet Singh said. Expressing his gratitude to the donor family, Singh said, "We remain indebted to the donor family for consenting to save and enrich others' lives in their hour of indescribable grief, impacting six lives tangibly and kindling hope in many more 'in-waiting' recipients intangibly." A 45-year-old man had sustained grievous head injuries in an accident on December 4. He was rushed to PGIMER, where he was declared brain dead three days later, the hospital authorities stated.
"The family, amid the grim tragedy of losing their dear one, displayed exceptional courage and magnanimity and consented for organ donation of their deceased relative, when counseled by the transplant coordinator at PGIMER. Following the family's consent, the heart, liver, kidneys, and corneas were retrieved from the donor for transplantation to save other lives. Since there was no matching recipient for heart here; it was allocated for a matching recipient in MGM Healthcare Hospital in Chennai with the intervention of National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO),'' the PGIMER added. In July, the family of a 13-year-old girl, who suffered cerebral edema and was subsequently declared brain dead donated her organs to four patients suffering from end-stage organ failure in Chandigarh and Mumbai, the hospital authorities said.