Successful heart transplantation in Belagavi

This is the third such procedure at KLE Society’s JNMC in the last five years

Surgeons at KLE Society’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) have performed a heart transplant. This is the third such procedure conducted successfully in the last five years in the medical college.

A team led by cardiac surgeon Richard Saldanha transplanted the heart of a brain-dead donor and saved the life of a 25-year-old man from Goa.

The procedure was conducted last month.

The patient was a known case of chronic terminal heart failure and was registered for heart transplant with Jeevasarthakathe (Organ Transplant Authority of the State Government) by the hospital in 2018. Since no immediate match was available, the patient was medically maintained.

However, the match became available when a A+ve blood group donor was declared brain dead and the family consented for organ donation.

Dr. Saldanha, chief cardiac surgeon of the hospital, conducted the transplant and the postoperative recovery was rated excellent and the patient has been discharged with a new heart. “The patient is walking, climbing stairs and is in a cheerful mood,’’ said his mother.

Chairman of KLE Society Prabhakar Kore said that the hospital was extending world class health care at bare minimum costs. “The cost of heart transplant ranges between ₹20 lakh and ₹25 lakh in metro cities, but in JNMC, we are providing it for ₹10 lakh, as our philosophy is to serve the needy,” he said.