BHUBANESWAR: For the second time in nine months, multiple organs retrieved from a brain dead patient at SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM), were flown to other cities for transplantation providing a new lease of life to two critical patients.
The liver and heart were retrieved from Krushna Chandra Mahabhoi, a CRPF jawan, who was pronounced brain dead in the hospital on March 23 night. The heart of a brain dead person was harvested for the first time in the state and sent for transplantation. The 48-year-old patient, who had suffered kidney failure, was on dialysis. His condition deteriorated subsequently leading to subdural haemorrhage. The treating team conducted an apnea test, which confirmed he was brain dead. The family of the patient then decided to donate his organs and informed the hospital authorities accordingly.
The hospital quickly got in touch with the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO), which subsequently informed its regional and national counterparts for coordination. After the organ viability was tested, the patient’s liver and heart were found to be in good condition for transplantation. Sources said, the liver was taken to Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre at Mumbai for transplantation on a patient while the heart was flown to Kolkata for transplantation on another patient under treatment at the Medica Superspeciality Hospital there.
Two medical teams from the two metros arrived in Bhubaneswar to retrieve the organs in the presence of surgeons of SUMUM. The local police arranged to create a green corridor from the hospital to the Biju Patnaik International Airport for smooth transport of the retrieved organs to the two cities.
CEO of SUMUM Dr Swetapadma Dash said it was the second time that multiple organs had been harvested from a brain dead patient in the hospital for transplantation elsewhere. “Last time the heart could not be utilised as the hospital concerned failed to take it. But this time the heart was flown out for transplantation,” she said.
Although other organs had been sent out of Odisha, SOTTO sources said, it was for the first time that a heart was taken out for transplantation.
The harvesting of the organs was done under the supervision of consultant nephrologist Dr Tapas Behera and head of critical care department Dr Banambar Ray.