Chennai (Tamil Nadu): A heart from an 18-year-old brain dead donor was transported over 350 kilometres to Chennai, which provided a fresh lease of life to a 33-year-old Kashmiri woman Shahzadi Fatima, suffering from terminal heart failure. Fatima, a resident of Srinagar, had travelled 3,000 kilometres for the treatment.
Fatima had worsening heart failure symptoms due to Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM), a condition where the chambers of the heart become stiff over time. She became terminally ill and her only hope of survival was early life-saving heart transplantation. With her condition worsening, she was admitted to MGM Healthcare in Chennai in December with signs of severe heart failure where she was treated with isotopes and other medications.
On January 26, this year, a suitable brain-dead donor was identified in a private hospital in Trichy. The heart was soon rushed to Chennai through a green corridor and high-risk heart transplantation was carried out. She made an uneventful recovery after the procedure and is ready to begin a new life.
Fatima an unmarried woman from Kashmir lives with her brother, a daily wage earner, who was not able to meet her medical expenses and the cost of the transplant. Seeing the plight of the woman, Aishwarya Trust, a non-profit health care organisation that supports the medical expenses of deserving patients bore the full medical expenses of Fatima.
Chitra Viswanathan, the founder of Aishwarya Trust said it was a meaningful way for Aishwarya Trust to celebrate Republic Day by funding the lady’s heart transplant on January 26,” For its part, MGM Healthcare carried out the transplant at a subsidised cost.
Dr KR Balakrishnan, Director, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support of MGM Healthcare, who led the surgery lauded the efforts of the victim’s family in generously agreeing for organ donation in the face of great personal tragedy and Transtan, which oversees the organ donation activity in the state.
Such lifesaving transplants need coordination and support from several people and are a true team effort, said Dr Suresh Rao, Co-Director, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support and D Ravikumar R, Sr. Consultant & Clinical Lead -Cardiology & Heart Failure Programme, MGM Healthcare.
Heart failure is an under-recognised problem in India. The quality of life and longevity of end-stage heart failure patients, who are not responding to conventional therapy, can be improved by advanced procedures like heart transplants and Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD).
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