Brain dead youth's heart, liver save two lives

A 21-year-old youth, who was declared brain dead, gave a fresh lease of life to two patients who were recipients of his heart and liver, a senior AIIMS official said on Tuesday.

The donor, who was admitted to a hospital in Indore after suffering serious injuries in a road accident on March 6, was not responding to the medical treatment at all.

As he was declared brain dead, the doctors after several attempts convinced the family for retrieving his organs, in a bid to save the lives of needy patients.

Accordingly, a call was made to the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation(ORBO) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, following which a team of surgeons from the Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Sciences Centre (CTVS) led by Milind Hote flew to the Indore hospital and retrieved the heart and liver from the donor.

The organs were flown to Delhi where the heart was transplanted in a 28-year-old patient suffering from ischemic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the left ventricle is usually enlarged and dilated.

The liver was transplanted in an adult at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), who is doing well after the surgery.

"This was a difficult task, but has added to our list of organ donations. Major challenges were coordination of two state authorities, arrangement of transportation. Over 500 medicos and para-medicos were involved in the whole process," said AIIMS director M.C. Misra.