17-yr-old undergoes heart transplant surgery at a city hospital

Kolkata: A 17-year-old girl from East Medinipur who had been suffering from 'Dilated Cardiomyopathy' and was under treatment at a private hospital in Howrah for the last 2 years has undergone heart transplant on Monday.

A 31-year-old youth, Sangram Bhattachary, a resident of Bhatpara in North 24-Parganas had met with an accident and suffered serious head injuries in the wee hours of August 15. He was rushed to a private hospital on EM Bypass.

Later in the evening of August 16, he was pronounced brain dead and the family consented to donate his organs.

A team of doctors from the private hospital in Howrah rushed to the other private hospital to harvest the donor's heart. State Health department had extended all necessary support and gave the clearance to go ahead with the transplant.

A 13 km long green corridor was facilitated by the Kolkata and Howrah police and the donor heart reached Howrah hospital. The heart transplant was performed by the team of cardiac surgeons and other doctors.

Liver was transplanted on an elderly man who was flown into the city from Agartala in Tripura on Sunday night. A youth from Howrah's Liluah would get one kidney while the other kidney was taken to the SSKM Hospital where it

would be transplanted on another patient. Skins of Bhattacharya have been donated to the skin bank of the SSKM Hospital.