External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday underwent a scheduled kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). AIIMS sources said the kidney for Swaraj was donated by a woman who is in her 40s and is not related to the External Affairs Minister.
Sushma’s surgery was performed by AIIMS Director MC Misra and Sub-Dean VK Bansal apart from a few other senior doctors. She underwent the transplant surgery at the cardio-thoracic neurosciences centre at AIIMS.
According to sources, the donor was wheeled into surgery at 9.00 am and Swaraj was taken in at 11.30 am. The procedure went on till around 3.00 pm. A team of senior doctors has been monitoring the Minister’s condition round-the-clock. “The surgery was successful and uneventful. She is admitted in the ICU and her condition is stable. Her condition is being closely monitored by a team of doctors. The donor voluntarily donated her kidney to the Minister,” AIIMS Director MC Mishra said when contacted.
“living, unrelated donor could be anyone who is emotionally attached to the recipient, such as a friend, a relative, a neighbour or an in-law. As no suitable donor was available in the immediate family, the transplant was done with the kidney from a living unrelated donor, sources said, adding the clearance for it was obtained from the Authorisation Committee of AIIMS.
Mishra said the surgery was carried out at the cardio-thoracic centre by a team of 50 personnel including transplant surgeons, transplant anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians and other supporting staff.
Sushma’s surgery was performed by AIIMS Director MC Misra and Sub-Dean VK Bansal and V Seenu, nephrologist Sandeep Mahajan and Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) chief Dr Balram Airan among others.
According to doctors, 64-year-old Swaraj has been suffering from diabetes for quite a long time. After the kidney failure diagnosis, she was put on maintenance dialysis. “She was undergoing dialysis thrice a week,” a senior doctor said.
Earlier, the team of doctors constituted for the surgery included head of endocrinology Nikhil Tandon, head of pulmonary medicine Randeep Guleria, chief of cardio-thoracic and head of nephrology Sandeep Mahajan. The possibility of having Swaraj’s daughter as a potential donor was turned down by the doctors as she too was diabetic and suffering from obesity. Doctors said Swaraj was undergoing dialysis whenever required.
Swaraj had tweeted on November 16 that she was admitted to AIIMS because of kidney failure. The 64-year-old, who has been in and out of AIIMS for the last few months, was admitted to the hospital on November 7.