First Heart Transplant Surgery for Free

The Asian Heart hospital, Mumbai, India, announced that it would do its first heart transplant surgery for free on the occasion of Maharashtra Organ Donation Day. The Maharashtra health services department reported that though it has been a decade since seven hospitals in the city were granted permission to conduct heart transplant operation, not a single such surgery has been performed in Mumbai.

A heart transplant is considered as the only resort when a person suffering from coronary ailments do not feel well after angioplasty and bypass. In a transplant case, the heart must be harvested from a brain dead person, after the consent from his/her family.

Dr Vijay D'Silva, Medical Director of Asian Heart Institute, said, "Now, we have decided to go the extra mile. Any cardiologist can send us a patient who is fit for heart transplant. The patient need not pay any money towards the surgery."

The south has excellent co-ordination among agencies for transplantation, especially in Chennai. Nearly four to five heart patients fly every month from Maharashtra to Chennai for transplantation.

Dr Ajay Chaurasia, Head of Cardiology Department at BYL Nair hospital, appreciated the effort by the Asian heart and said, "Now that we are aware of the initiative, we will refer patients to them. Every year, we come across nearly 50 patients who require a heart transplant."

Source-Medindia