Heart patient cheats death 13 times, receives transplant
◗ A 41- year- old man, who cheated death 13 times after heart attacks in the past three years, finally received a cadaveric heart via a green corridor in the city
A 41- year- old man, who cheated death 13 times after heart attacks in the past three years, finally received a cadaveric heart via a green corridor in the city.
The donor, hailing from Udaipur, was declared brain dead a few days ago, following which the heart was transported to Delhi and a green corridor was created between Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport ( IGIA) andl Max Hospital Saket for the transplant.
It took a total of 1 hour 40 minutes to cover a distance of 256 km.
Shubhankar Dhar Choudhary’s life had come to a screeching halt one day in February 2015. What began with nausea and breathlessness, soon turned into repeated episodes of vomiting, severe perspiration, and dizziness, and within a few days, he was intubated. Even on the ventilator, his condition continued to deteriorate and within two days, he suffered multiple organ failure.
He was then fitted with a ventricular assist device, prolonging his life enough to be able to receive a transplant.
With organ donation in India continuing to be a dismal scenario and for patients with end- stage organ failure, Mr Choudhary’s couldn’t find a donor.
Dr Kewal Krishan, director- Heart Transplant and Ventricular Assist Devices, Principal Consultant – CTVS, Max Saket, who treated Mr Choudhary, shared how in end- stage heart disease, the only options were either a transplant or Ventricular Assist Device ( LVAD).
However, every time Dr Krishan and his team tried to wean the mechanical support that the patient was on, his condition would start deteriorating. As a result, he could not wait for a new heart. In a case like his, Left Ventricular Assist Device ( LVAD) came as a bridge to transplant, prolonging his life enough to be able to receive a transplant.
An LVAD is placed in one of the heart chambers in the patient’s chest and helps the heart pump oxygenrich blood throughout the body.