City docs race against time to get organs for 3 patients

City docs race against time to get organs for 3 patients

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:10,12,2021

Three patients at MGM Healthcare got a new lease of life after organs from deceased donors were airlifted from Chandigarh and Visakhapatnam for two heart transplants and one lung transplant simultaneously in three operating rooms. All three patients , one of whom is a child, are recovering normally.

It was a race against time as teams coordinated the transport of the organs through Green Corridors in the three cities. A team of more than 60 people lead by the chief surgeon Dr K R Balakrishnan, head of anesthesia Dr Suresh Rao and chief cardiologist Dr Ravikumar were involved in this process. The entire process, right from harvesting and transporting of the organs and successfully transplanting themtook 14 hours.

“Travelling from Chandigarh to Chennai without a direct air connectivity is not an easy task. The team reached Chennai after travelling over 7 hours,” said Dr K R Balakrishnan adding that the cold ischemic time, which is the time between removal of the heart from the donor and implanting it in the recipient was 8 hours. In a release, the hospital said the recipient was very sick in the intensive care awaiting a donor organ for a long time and that the new heart is functioning normally. The organ fromVisakhapatnam was transported using an air ambulance.