A 21-year-old man from Jalgaon district has become the first person in Maharashtra to get a heart and lung transplant. Rahul Thakur got operated upon at Fortis Malar hospital in Chennai on Saturday.
A 21-year-old man from Jalgaon district has become the first person in Maharashtra to get a heart and lung transplant. Rahul Thakur got operated upon at Fortis Malar hospital in Chennai on Saturday.
Amalner-based Rahul, who has passed his SSC exams, had a hole in his heart since birth. The defect changed the normal flow of blood through his heart, bringing extra blood into his heart's right side, and putting added pressure on his lung blood vessels, leading to breathlessness. Because of this disorder, his heart's efficiency dropped from 60% to 10-15%. Several parts of his body became swollen. He was barely able to walk. Frequent bouts of breathlessness sent him to Mumbai and elsewhere for medical aid.
After exhausting their options in Mumbai, Rahul's family realised that a permanent solution, namely surgery, was available in Chennai. The Fortis Malar hospital in Chennai put Rahul on its waiting list for organ donation, and Rahul stayed with relatives in a rented room in that city for ten months, awaiting a positive match. On Friday, Rahul received the news that the required organs were available from a 20-year-old brain dead accident victim in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
Dr KR Balakrishnan, director of cardiac sciences, Fortis Malar Hospital, said hospital staff went and harvested the organs from the donor in the Guntur hospital, and with help from traffic police of both states, drove back to Chennai in two hours flat.
"Till that time, another team of doctors had already taken the patient into the operation theatre and had started the surgery." Dr Balakrishnan, who led the surgery, said.
He added, "This is the first time we are doing both the organs together. We finished the surgery in four hours. Currently the patient is awake and responding to treatment. After such kind of surgery, the patient needs to take medication life-long."
Rahul's uncle Tushar said, "It is really great that my nephew got a second life, thanks to this heart and lung transplant procedure. It will be extremely difficult to express it in words, it is too overwhelming. I just want to thank God and the donor. The doctors are really great. Apart from the surgery, they also gave me tremendous psychological support. I really have no words to express my gratitude to the family which decided to donate the heart and lungs of their son."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}