Calcutta Medical College & Hospital performs heart transplant on 38-year-old patient

Kolkata: The Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) is the first government-run hospital in the state to perform a heart transplant on a 38-year-old man who had been undergoing treatment here at the hospital following severe heart-related ailments.

It was learnt that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also congratulated the hospital authorities for their achievement. Incidentally, it may be mentioned here that CMCH is the first medical college and hospital in the city obtaining the clearance from the state Health department in June this year. The state Health department officials inspected the CMCH and examined the infrastructure available to carry out such a surgery. A certificate of registration was issued to the Asia's oldest medical college which will remain valid for five years from the date of issuance of license.

One Saikat Lattu (30), a resident of Pujali in South 24-Parganas, was declared brain dead at SSKM Hospital on Friday. As the family members of the victim agreed to donate his organs, the hospital authorities informed the matter to the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) which allocated the heart to the CMCH after it came to know that one patient admitted at the hospital required a heart transplant. The SSKM doctors retrieved the heart from the victim after his father, Swadesh Lattu, gave his consent for the same.

The heart was taken to the CMCH from SSKM within eight minutes through a green corridor felicitated by the city police on Saturday morning. A 12-member team of doctors was constituted at the CMCH to carry out the surgery.

According to the hospital authorities, the heart was successfully transplanted on Rakhal Das (38) who had serious heart ailments for a long time. He has been kept under observation for the next 72 hours. The city has seen a spurt in organ donation in recent times due to the state government's drive for awareness about deceased donor organ transplants. It can be said that SSKM Hospital has performed a series of liver and kidney transplants in the past two years but the CMCH has achieved a significant milestone by successfully conducting the heart transplant on Saturday.