17 yr old becomes first child to undergo heart transplant in Mumbai

Nakul Chavan (15), a resident of Nashik, succumbed to end-stage heart disease on December 19, as he failed to get a donor heart. Sweden (17), who became a part of Mumbai's history by being the first child to undergo heart transplant.

"I can only pray for Nakul and his family. Being the father of an end-stage heart disease girl, I know the pain Nakul's family must have gone through," says Anthony D'Souza, father of Sweden.

Sweden, the commerce student had registered for heart transplant two months ago at Fortis hospital. He underwent a successful transplant after a 20-year-old brain-dead girl's family agreed to donate her heart in Indore. The authorities created a green corridor for the heart transportation from Indore to Mumbai's Fortis hospital, where the surgery was conducted.

After Sweden, there is another child waiting for a heart for transplant. "For paediatric heart transplant, we need a donor heart of specific weight. The donor heart should match the size of the recipient's heart. It was unfortunate that we could not save Nakul due to non availability of the organ", said Dr Vijay Agarwal, head of paediatric cardiac surgery, who was part of Sweden's transplant. He said on December 2, the hospital was informed about the cadaver donor, after which the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC) was informed and the health authorities swung into action to get the required permissions for the inter-state transport of the heart.

Doctors from Fortis hospital rushed to Choitaram hospital in Indore for retrieval of the heart and left for Mumbai at 7.11am on December 3. With the help of the green corridor, the heart reached Fortis hospital at 9.07am and the operation started at 9.10am.

"My daughter's life changed within 12 hours. The cadaver donation has given her a new lease of life. We were informed at 1.10pm that the operation was successful. We cannot wait to take her home hail and hearty", said Anthony, who works as a security guard in Vikhroli. This is city's second inter-state heart transplant.

At present, Sweden is being monitored in the intensive care unit. "She is stable and will be kept under observation for the next 48-72 hours", said Dr Agarwal. While Sweden is on the path to recovery, her father is now worried about paying the hospital bills.

"I am the only earning member in the family and my monthly income is Rs16,000. This was the reason I could not afford going to Chennai for Sweden's treatment. The doctors have given us an estimate of Rs30 lakh. Good Samaritans are welcome to help us with Sweden's treatment cost," said Anthony.

All about heart transplant programme in Mumbai It was in1968 that Dr PK Sen and his team from KEM Hospital, Parel, carried out two transplants with limited success, barely six months after South African surgeon Christian Barnard performed the world's first such procedure. After that, there was a long gap and end-stage heart patients had to go to hospitals in the south for transplants.

After 1986, five heart transplants were conducted in Fortis hospital, and of the recipients died. Sweden's transplant was 6th in the western region and the first paediatric case. Recently, five children underwent heart transplant procedure in Chennai.

In Mumbai at present, 12 people are waiting for donor hearts. Six hospitals in the city acquired the permission to perform heart transplants 10 years ago, but not a single such procedure could be performed till Fortis started the surgery in August 2015.

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