BHARATI PAWASKAR
So far, we have known about the exchange of hearts between two lovers, and the whole affair takes just a few minutes and is almost free. But when the alive and beating heart of a brain-dead person is transplanted through surgery into the body of a living patient who needs it badly to survive, it may cost a few lakhs and is done under extreme supervision of expert medicos. Though heart surgeries are still in infancy in India, they are comparatively easy to perform. However, it depends upon the aftercare precautions how well and how long the transplanted heart continues to beat in someone else’s body.
“When a heart fails, should one die or survive with a heart transplant,” is the million dollar question that cardiac surgeon Dr Devananda N S puts before us. The renowned cardio surgeon who has so far done five successful heart transplants on persons between 30-48 years of age, was in Goa on World Organ Donation Day, August 31, to create awareness on organ donations.
Explaining that the success of heart transplant operations depends on how well you execute the procedure and on the post-operative care, Dr Devananda states that the heart received from a brain-dead person has to be transplanted within 4-5 hours or else it goes to waste. In India 12 hospitals carry on these procedures and the success depends on many facts. The recipient has to be put on life-long immune-suppressants as otherwise there is a chance of rejecting the new heart. “How you choose the best potential recipient for heart transplant is important, as the person must be the most deserving candidate,” says Dr Devanand.
Heart transplant surgeries can cost between Rs 10-12 lakh or more, depending upon each individual case. Dr Devananda who has performed five successful heart transplants at Manipal Hospital, has been visiting Goa since a decade and offering cardiac services to heart patients in Goa.
In India, organ donation rate is one of the lowest in the world and approximately 5,00,000 people die due to wide gap between the number of transplants awaited and the organs available. Around 1,00,000 people die of liver disease every year and 2,20,000 await kidney transplants. Almost 10,00,000 people await corneal transplants, 50,000 heart transplants and 20,000 are in need of lung transplant. The act of organ donation by one person can save eight to nine more lives - as two lungs, two kidneys, two corneas, one heart, one liver, one pancreas, small intestines and skin can be transplanted. Despite major advances in medical science, organ transplant is the only alternative in certain cases to save life. But unfortunately, due to ignorance, cultural beliefs and lack of awareness, people in India are less enthusiastic about organ donation. Karnataka, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are leading states where people come forward to donate organs of their brain-dead relatives.
“When a person meets a sudden death in the prime of his health, the relatives must come forward to donate his/her organs so that those who need them get a lease of life. Even in death, one can gift life to many. There are many who are dependent on machines and there is no other technology to save their lives, other than organ transplant, without which they just have to wait for death,” observes Dr Devananda.
India is far behind as far as organ donations are concerned, and even in organ transplants, it took almost 25 years for us to have first successful heart transplantation in 1994 after the first such operation done in Cape Town, South Africa in December 1967. It was in 1994 that the bill on organ transplantation was passed in our parliament. Dr Devananda was here to mark 10th year of offering cardiac services to the people of Goa.
