Patient stable after miraculous heart transplant in city

Kolkata: Dilchand Singh, a resident of Jharkhand who had undergone heart transplantation at Fortis Hospital in Anandapur off EM Bypass on Monday, has been stated to be stable.

A Press statement issued by the private hospital authorities on Tuesday said that the patient has been recovering well and has been taken off assisted ventilation. The family members of the patient who visited the hospital on Tuesday expressed their happiness over the treatment.

"All medical parameters are satisfactory. The heart transplant recipient is stable and continues to progress well," the Press statement issued by the medical superintendent of the hospital said. The patient will be kept under observation for the next few days.

The heart was harvested at a Bangalore hospital, before it was airlifted to Kolkata early on Monday morning. One Varun DK (21) had met with a fatal road accident in Bangalore and was declared brain dead after being admitted to a hospital on May 19. The heart was extracted from Varun.

According to the city doctors, the post-operative care is most important in such operations. The condition of the patient should also be monitored closely. A senior cardiothoracic surgeon at a medical college hospital in the city said that post-operative treatment is very important in case of any such major operation. In some cases, patients develop infections later. He said that awareness must be spread among the people about the organ transplantation in the state.

"Why should organs be brought from other cities? The pledges of organ donation must be increased in the state, for which a comprehensive awareness programme should be conducted. Bengal government has done significant improvement in this field so far," a city doctor said.

It may be mentioned here that Singh had been suffering from Dilated Cardiomyopathy. He was on the waiting list since January 2017. A live heart was flown to the city from Bangalore and later taken to the hospital, following which it was successfully transplanted into the patient's body. A green corridor was set up between the Calcutta airport and the hospital for a smoothly transportation of the organ.