Specialists at Apollo Hospitals perform a successful heart transplant on an young software engineer !

Hyderabad, March 10, 2016: A team of specialists at Apollo Hospitals led by Dr Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale, Senior Heart & Lung Transplant Surgeon, performed a Heart Transplantation successfully on a 36 year old man suffering from terminal heart disease. This surgery was done on 26th of February,2016 and the patient has since recovered and is getting discharged.

The recipient Vinay kumar, a software engineer by profession and resident of Hyderabad had to quit his job at Accenture a year back due to heart problem. He was diagnosed to be suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy for last four years, it worsened further since eight months and was virtually confined to home. Vinay was treated by cardiologists for breathing difficulty and hospitalised three times in the last six months for control of heart failure. He was referred to Dr. Gokhale for the possibility of heart transplantation.

When patient came to Apollo Hospitals on 18th January, 2016, he was very critical and needed admission in ICCU under the care of cardiologist Dr. Manoj Agarwal and Dr. Gokhale. He was stabilized and discharged after 10 days to let him join in the birthday celebrations of his one year old child. In the meantime his name was registered with Jeevandan. His condition remained precarious and had to undergo regular follow ups, while waiting for a heart from a cadaver.

On 25th of February, relations of a young brain dead patient agreed to donate organs at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills. However donor blood pressure was low and was put on large doses of medicines to maintain blood pressure. An heart like that is not conducive for transplant. However intensivists at Apollo Hospitals worked extremely hard overnight to stabilise the heart condition and facilitate usage of the same to save the life of this heart failure patient. Vinay recovered well after transplant and was mobile within 48 hours.

Heart transplantation is a rare operation done for end-stage heart failure. So far in India, only a little over 250 heart transplants are done. Unlike kidney and liver transplantations, awareness about heart transplantation is dismal and many a times donated hearts are going waste. After heart transplantation, most of these patients can lead normal life and carry on with their jobs.

About Apollo Hospitals

It was in 1983, that Dr. Prathap Reddy made a pioneering endeavour by launching India’s first corporate hospital – Apollo Hospital in Chennai. Now, as Asia largest and most trusted healthcare group, its presence includes 8,488 beds across 51 Hospitals, 1,586 Pharmacies, 92 Primary Care and Diagnostic Clinics, 100 Telemedicine units across 10 countries. Health Insurance services, Global Projects Consultancy, 15 colleges of Nursing and Hospital Management and a Research Foundation with a focus on global Clinical Trials, epidemiological studies, stem cell & genetic research and the first Proton Therapy Center across Asia, Africa and Australia.

In a rare honor, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in recognition of Apollo’s contribution, the first for a healthcare organization. Apollo Hospitals Chairman, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in 2010. For more than 28 years, the Apollo Hospitals Group has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting-edge technology. Our hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals globally for advanced medical services and research.