For months, 26-year-old Fadima from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh battled breathlessness that limited even her simplest daily activities. Her heart, weakened to just 10-15% function due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is severely impaired.
She had been admitted at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences & Dr. RML Hospital, for several weeks and placed on the heart transplant waiting list. Her family continued to hope for a viable donor organ, as her condition remained precarious.
On July 12, a matching heart became available from a 24-year-old male donor who had been declared brain dead at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. The donor had sustained a fatal brain injury following a fall, and his family had consented to organ donation.
Following the confirmation of organ allocation, a retrieval team from RML Hospital, led by Dr. Palash Aiyer, Professor, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS), travelled by road to PGIMER Chandigarh to harvest the donor heart. The organ was subsequently preserved in a cold storage unit and flown to Delhi in the early hours of the yesterday morning itself via an Indigo commercial flight, shared an official from the RML Hospital, as per the official.
Upon arrival in the capital, the transplant procedure was undertaken at RML Hospital by a multidisciplinary surgical team without wasting any time. The operation was led by Dr. Narender Singh Jhajhria, Director Professor of Cardiac Surgery, along with Dr. Vijay Grover, Consultant and Head of the Department. The surgery was completed successfully, and Fadima was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for post-operative monitoring.
Dr. Jhajhria said the patient was responding well to the transplant and continues to be under close observation. “There is a steady improvement in her condition,” he said. The donor was evaluated by Dr. Ranjit Nath (HoD), Dr. Puneet and Dr. Shivani Rao while cardiac team included Dr. Jaswinder Kaur, Dr. Rohan Magoon and Dr. Tanya Mittal.
The coordination and logistics involved in the transplant were overseen by transplant nodal officer Dr. Himanshu Mahapatra, while administrative and infrastructural support was provided by RML Director Dr. Ashok Kumar.
Fadima’s heart transplant marks the third such life-saving procedure conducted at the centrally-run RML Hospital, the first one performed in 2022.
Emphasising the growing need for organ transplantation in India, Dr. Jhajhria stated, “Many patients are awaiting organ donation. At the same time, many are ready to donate also. What is needed is raising awareness among families about the importance of donating organs and ensuring supportive infrastructure.”
The senior cardiologist called for stronger post-operative support mechanisms as “for instance, transplant recipients require life-long immunosuppressant therapy, which can be prohibitively expensive.”
