KIMS Doctors Perform Highest COVID Lung Transplants in Asia

Doctors at the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hyderabad, performed 12 COVID Double Lung transplants and 50 Lung & Heart transplant procedures between September 2020 and April 2021, accounting for the highest number of procedures in Asia.

Some of the severe COVID-19 patients require advanced respiratory support _ ECMO _ for respiratory failure.

‘ECMO should be used early in the management of severe COVID-19 patients. Patients who fail to show signs of improvement on ECMO even after 2-4 weeks should be considered for lung transplant.’
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Patients will be usually from States likes Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi in the North; Kerala, Karnataka in the South; Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan in the West; and West Bengal, Odisha in East; along with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh in Central India.

Commenting on the record performance, Dr. Sandeep Attawar, Program Director and Chair, Thoracic Organ Transplant program, KIMS Hospitals said, “The team has performed 12 double lung transplants for patients with respiratory failures caused due to COVID-19 and 38 heart, double lung & combined heart double lung transplants for patients suffering from advanced cardio respiratory failure since September 2020.

Focus was on chronic respiratory ailments, in the past eight months, the focus had to be shifted to management of advanced respiratory failure caused due to Covid-19 pandemic.”

“With 50 thoracic transplant procedures involving both lungs and heart, KIMS once again established its authority as one of the best healthcare institutions, not just in the country, but across Asia.

This achievement speaks volumes about the technical superiority and knowledge excellence available at KIMS hospitals. We are confident, this is just the beginning and KIMS will achieve many more firsts for the country in the times ahead,” added Dr. B Bhaskar Rao, Managing Director, KIMS Hospitals.

KIMS team believes that the course of COVID-19 infection is unpredictable; but patients who develop respiratory failure early may have more severe disease.

ECMO should be used early in the management of these patients. Patients who fail to show signs of improvement on ECMO even after 2-4 weeks should be considered for lung transplant.

ECMO Might Help COVID-19 Patients
Right now, hundreds of COVID-19 patients in intensive care worldwide are being kept alive using a life support technology called ECMO and the skills of specially trained teams of nurses, respiratory therapists, technicians and doctors.

The team at KIMS has done 12 transplants for COVID-19 patients. In one case, a young man was bridged with ECMO support for 56 days and subsequently performed successful double lung transplant, which is a huge achievement.

Source-Medindia