IPGMER Doctors perform combined heart-lung transplant on young patient

Kolkata: In a remarkable medical feat, West Bengal witnessed a historic moment as a young patient received both a heart and lung from a single donor who was declared brain dead at the state government-run Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER)-SSKM Hospital in Kolkata.

A farmer by profession, 52-year-old Arun Kumar Kole, who was undergoing treatment at the hospital, was declared brain dead on Sunday night, sources said.

According to a PTI report, “The complicated transplant of the two organs on the young patient started late Monday evening. It was conducted by a team of doctors at the SSKM Hospital. Following the surgery which ended this morning, he has been kept under observation,” a doctor said.

Kole sustained severe injuries after being involved in a scooter accident on May 10. After receiving initial treatment at another medical facility, he was transferred to SSKM Hospital due to a deterioration in his condition.

“My father-in-law underwent brain surgery on May 11, but there was no improvement in his condition. He was declared brain-dead on Sunday. After that, we agreed to donate his organs so that he remains alive among others,” Kole’s son-in-law Satyajit Mondal told PTI on Tuesday evening.

A 28-year-old woman, who has been under treatment at the SSKM Hospital, and another 32-year-old woman admitted to the Command Hospital in Alipore received one kidney each from Kole, doctors said.

A 51-year-old woman received a liver.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that Fortis Hospital Bannerghatta Road recently achieved yet another significant clinical milestone with the successful completion of complex Robotic Kidney Transplant Surgeries for end-stage kidney disease. The procedures were conducted on two patients: an 11-year-old boy from Yemen, and a 34-year-old man from Bengaluru. Both underwent live-related kidney transplant surgeries, with their aunt and father serving as donors, respectively.