Hyderabad :

The first heart transplant in the state of a 33-year-old daily wage earner and bread winner of a family, K Ramesh from Medchal who had been suffering from an end-stage heart disease has proved successful, transplant surgeon Dr A Gopalakrishna Gokhale said.

The transplant of a heart from a brain dead person was carried out on Friday at Global Hospitals in the city by a team of cardiologists headed by Dr Gokhale. The transplantation marks a milestone in the hospitals progress and reflects the highest form of co-ordination, Global Hospitals managing director Dr K Ravindranath told reporters here on Friday.

Normally, the heart transplantation operation takes about four hours but in the case of this patient the doctors completed the operation in about three hours, Dr Ravindranath said.

Multi-organ harvesting aid network (MOHAN) Foundation executive director Lalitha Raghuram stood behind in motivating the dear ones of the brain dead for organ transplantation to save another life.

“The recipient’s condition is stable, he will be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for about three more days,” cardio thoracic and transplant surgeon Dr Gokhale said. Prior to the surgery, many had ruled out his survival for he was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy in which the heart is damaged for reasons unknown. Now, he is taking fluids and has started talking, the doctor said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad> Transplant Surgeon / TNN / February 08th, 2004