For the first time in north Maharashtra, relatives of a brain-dead patient have donated his skin, among other organs, including liver, kidneys and eyes.

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Subhash Bhanushali (69), a resident of Shahapur, was brought to the Hrishikesh hospital in Nashik on Sunday evening. He was suffering from intracranial hemorrhage – bleeding in the brain – and malignant hypertension. He was declared brain-dead later in the night.

Hospital director Bhausaheb More and doctors then counselled the patient's relatives, explaining to them that his organs could save lives. The relatives agreed for cadaver donation.

Hrishikesh hospital, the co-ordination center for organ donation in Nashik, contacted the Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Centre (ZTCC), and it was decided that the liver will be transplanted to a patient in Pune's Sahyadri hospital. The kidneys were given to two patients in Nashik, while eyes and skin were stored in respective banks, informed More.

The organ harvesting began around 3.30pm. The liver was sent to Pune immediately. A green corridor was formed and the ambulance that carried the liver was escorted by police vehicles, making a priority way for it to reach Pune in time.

One of the kidneys was transplanted to a patient who happened to be a doctor himself, while the other to a businessman. Both transplants were done at Hrishikesh hospital on the same evening. The harvested cornea were sent to the eye bank at Sushil hospital in Nashik.

This is the third case of organ donation in Nashik this year. The first one was on May 10 and the second on June 8, indicating that awareness regarding organ donation is increasing among people.

Also, this was the first time in north Maharashtra that skin was donated. "Skin donation proves to be very useful, particularly for burn patients," said plastic surgeon Dr Rajendra Nehete, a specialist in treating burn injuries and also the director of Rotray Vedant Hospital Skin Bank.

Dr Nehete, who was present along with Dr Anita Nehete to harvest the skin, explained that after taking due aseptic precautions, the skin from thigh to ankle is harvested in strips with a special machine called skin dermatome.

The strips are then cleaned and put in glycerol for 2-3 days. It is then prepared for storage by using an antibiotic solution. "The skin is stored at 4 degrees Centigrade in a skin bank. It can be used up to five years," said Dr Nehete.

Skin can be harvested only from an adult patient but can be transplanted to children as well. Blood type matching is not required. Care, however, needs to be taken that the donor does not have any communicable disease, HIV, cancer or any other severe infection.