PGIMER conducts its 7th Heart Transplant

CHANDIGARH:(Anuradha Kapoor) March 21,2022 : “Since Mr. Yogesh Kumar met with the fatal accident on 16th March, we were at his bedside praying for a miracle to happen. But who could have imagined that our dear son was to be the miracle. He became a miracle to all those who got another chance at life because of my son’s organ donation,” stated Seema Devi, the brave heart mother of donor Yogesh Kumar, as she was being handed over the mortal remains of her deceased son at the mortuary at PGIMER today.

Due to the incredible decision taken in their darkest hour, the donor family of Yogesh Kumar gave a new lease of life to four people with the transplantation of heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas. The retrieved corneas will restore the sight of another two patients post transplantation. This way, six lives will be impacted with this generous gesture of the donor family of Yogesh Kumar at PGIMER.

Commending his team for this leap forward in the transplant surgery by successfully accomplishing seventh heart transplant, Prof. Surjit Singh, Dir. PGIMER Chandigarh stated, “Despite cadaver donor organ transplants picking up at a consistent pace in different pockets in the country, heart transplants are still very uncommon because of its complexities. So it is really heartening that today, PGIMER has to its credit the successfully accomplished seventh heart transplant and all those involved in this intricate operation including cardiologists, cardiovascular & thoracic surgeons, transplant coordinators, testing labs, technical and nursing staff deserve appreciation.”

‘Prof. Harkant Singh Baryah, Deptt. of CTVS, PGIMER, who along with Prof Shyam K S Thingnam spearheaded the surgery, shared his experience, “Heart transplant surgery has its kind of challenges; one the surgery is complex and technically demanding and second, there are not too many usable hearts. Even the recipients too have to be selected very carefully for these procedures. In this case, we were lucky that the donor heart was in a very good condition. It was the untiring efforts by the CTVS team headed by Prof. Shyam K S. Thingnam that the surgery went well and the recipient is doing good.”

Earlier, the donor Yogesh Kumar, 19 year old youth from a village in district Karnal, Haryana was rushed to Lok Narayan Hospital, Karnal in an extremely critical condition after sustaining grievous head injury in a road side accident on 16th March.

After it became clear that Yogesh Kumar would not survive his devastating head injuries, the attending doctors at Lok Narayan Hospital at Karnal approached the family of the deceased to request if they could consider organ donation for which the braveheart family showed their willingness. Immediately, Lok Narayan Hospital got in touch with PGIMER Chandigarh for further management and donor was accordingly shifted to PGIMER on 18th March.

Dr Apinder Preet Singh from Neurosurgery Department., PGIMER stated, “It was a difficult hour. Though we tried our level best to save Yogesh Kumar under the close supervision of Prof. S.K.Gupta, Head, Deptt. of Neurosurgery, but his condition kept worsening. Given the extent of head injury, chances of Yogesh Kumar’s survival seemed extremely bleak and we apprised the family about the prognosis. We also advised the transplant coordinators to discuss the option of organ donation with them in case of any eventuality.”

However, Yogesh Kumar’s long struggle between life and death came to a halt when he was declared brain dead on 19th March by the Brain Death Certification Committee after duly following the protocols of THOA 2011 and the family duly consented for organ donation of the deceased Yogesh Kumar.

Following the family’s consent, the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas and corneas were retrieved from the donor for transplantation to the matching recipients here in PGIMER.

Detailing about the latest case of Organ Donation, Prof. Vipin Koushal, Medical Superintendent cum Head, Deptt. Of Hospital Administration, PGIMER stated,“ One interaction with terminally ill organ failure patients would be sufficient to reveal how painful their lives are and how even daily routine chores are an ordeal for them. Therefore, we all must come forward to save precious lives by pledging for organ donation and provide a ray of hope to the ever increasing wait-listed recipients.”