Bengaluru, Hyderabad doctors save two Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand men

Bengaluru: A 62-year-old man from Tamil Nadu, diagnosed with Interstitial lung disease (ILD) and a 40-year-old congenital heart patient from Jharkhand, received a new lease of life, thanks to the joint efforts of a team of doctors at Aster Hospitals, Bengaluru, and KIMS Hospitals, Hyderabad, who conducted challenging bilateral lung transplant and combined heart and lung transplant procedures to save the life of these patients.

Mr Pawan Kumar Singh, a 40-year-old patient from Jharkhand, had a history of congenital heart disease with significant structural defects, and developed severe pulmonary hypertension which made him oxygen dependent with poor quality of life. Despite optimal medical management, his condition continued to deteriorate due to which he had to be admitted to the hospital multiple times.

Other case, 62-year-old, Mr. Margabandhu, had ILD and despite optimal medical management his fibrosis continued to progress. He was dependent on oxygen with severe limitation of physical activities.

Explaining the challenges and complexities involved in both the cases, Dr Sandeep Attawar, Chair & Director of Thoracic organ transplants and Assist devices at KIMS Heart & Lung Transplant Institute, said: "Both the patient were listed for transplant at Aster CMI Hospital Bengaluru in September 2020 and were transplanted in December 2020 once matching organ was available. These patients had to wait a bit longer for the organ due to the ongoing Covid pandemic. Both the surgeries were successful and the patients are now discharged from the hospital and slowly getting back to normal life. Both the recipients can go back to their normal life in around three months time."

Dr Sandeep Attawar is one of the most experienced heart and lung transplant surgeons in the country. A veteran in the field of transplant surgeries with over 24-years' experience, Dr. Attawar has to date performed over 12,000 heart surgeries and has over 250 transplant surgeries for lungs, heart, and artificial heart implants (LVAD) to his credit.

Sharing his views, Dr. Pavan Yadav, Consultant Interventional Pulmonology, Sleep Medicine and Lung transplantation, Aster Hospitals, Bangalore, said: "The successful double lung transplant and a combined heart and lung transplant during the Covid-19 pandemic is another feather in our hospital's transplant program's cap. Conducting a transplant surgery during a pandemic has many medical and logistic challenges. We adhered to strict protocols and mandates to ensure the safety of recipients, family members, and our team while conducting these transplants. Both the patients are stable and are recovering well at their respective homes."

Thanking the doctors for saving Pawan Kumar Singh's life, Ashish Singh said: "My brother was diagnosed with hypersensitivity in the lungs in 2017 and with time, his condition started deteriorating further and he had to be put on a lung support machine. His life took a complete U-turn when he had developed severe pulmonary hypertension and he became dependent on oxygen support throughout the day. After suffering from the condition for several years, it was in 2019 that we got to know about the combined heart and lung transplant which could provide a solution to my brother's condition and we were then referred to Aster Hospitals, Bangalore for transplant evaluation. We are extremely thankful to the doctors for saving my brother's life and providing him a new ray of hope to start afresh in the New Year."

Speaking on the collaboration Dr. Nitish Shetty, CEO, Aster Hospitals, Bengaluru said, "Collaboration is important to the healthcare system as it has the potential to allow for more comprehensive patient care through a combination of synergies and expertise and is also essential in meeting ongoing healthcare challenges in transplants. Such association will help in improving medical care standards and make healthcare affordable & accessible for everyone across the country. The collaboration between hospitals will also drive research into complex medical domains and the best solutions would be forthcoming from such collaborative approaches."