CHENNAI: GEM Hospital and Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, located five-kilometre apart in Coimbatore, have pulled off simultaneous liver transplants for two men in their fifties, involving an inter-hospital swap of organs from donors, who were each other’s wives. Addressing the media here on Friday, the hospitals claimed that this was the first time in India that such liver transplants involving inter-hospital swap were done.
The patients, aged 59 from Salem and 53 from Tiruppur respectively admitted in GEM and Ramakrishna hospitals, were in dire need of liver transplants. Although their respective wives were ready to donate, they could not due to blood group incompatibility.
In what the doctors termed a “rare stroke of opportunity”, it was found that there was compatibility for a swap transplant. R Sundar, Managing Trustee, Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, said the authorisation committee for transplant in Coimbatore didn’t give approval for the transplant initially and they had to approach the Madras High Court, which directed the committee to consider the representation as soon as possible and pass an order, following which things were set in motion and the surgery happened on July 3. Both the surgeries were performed under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme of the state government.
“Swap transplants are already regulated under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 2014, but inter-hospital coordination has added new layers of scrutiny,” said Dr P Praveen Raj, Director of GEM Hospitals.
Dr C Palanivelu, Chairman, GEM Hospital, said special clearance was needed from State Transplant Authority (TRANSTAN) to transport the organ from one hospital to the other. “We also had to ensure synchronised surgeries and establish a real-time communication protocol between both hospitals,” he added.
Dr N Anand Vijay, Liver Transplant Surgeon - GEM Hospital, said real-time video feeds were established to monitor surgical progress. “Dedicated ambulances equipped with cold chain systems were kept on standby, but both donors and recipients remained in their respective hospitals throughout, making this a true logistical marvel,” he said.