40 Year old Moulana from Pakistan Undergoes Successful Heart Transplant at Fortis Malar

Patient Name: Mr. Moulana Mohammed Zubair Ashmi

Patient From: Pakistan

Condition Treated: Heart Failure

Treatment/Procedure: Heart Transplant

Doctor/Surgeon: Dr. K.R. Balakrishnan– Director, Liver Transplant & GI Surgery

Hospital: Fortis Malar, Chennai

It was quite a shock for 40-year old Moulana Mohammed Zubair Ashmi and his family, when he was told that he needed a Heart Transplantation. He was repeatedly admitted and treated for breathing difficulties, poor urine output, and swelling in the body, in different hospitals. However, it was unfortunate he could not be cured completely. Another round of tests revealed that it was a case of Heart Failure. Moulana and his family had almost given up as Heart Transplant was available in Pakistan.

The interesting part is he, till that day, had never heard of Chennai, but this city saved his life. Moulana’s case was handled by Dr. Kr. R. Balakrishnan, who is the Director of Cardiac Sciences. He received a call from a hospital in Lahore, where Moulana was admitted. Once the patient stabilized a bit, he was airlifted to Chennai. When he arrived, he was in a very bad condition and his blood pressure was very low. His Kidneys too were malfunctioning. Dr. Balakrishnan says that this patient was suffering from a condition known as Dilated Cardiomyopathy in which both the ventricles of the Heart malfunction. Also, there was water accumulation in his stomach and legs, was Hepatitis C positive among other complexities.

Overall, he was in a very risky condition for any kind of procedure. So, one of the solutions was putting an artificial Heart Pump but for that it is important that the patient’s right ventricle is good, but this was not the case with this patient. Next was putting a device via the groin to support him for some weeks but there was no guarantee that they will find a donor Heart by that time. Amongst all this, fortunately, they received a call that an O+ive Heart of a 38-year old person is available. Without any delay, the surgery was done successfully in four hours.

According to Dr. Balakrishnan, the after-surgery was very crucial in such cases as the organs take time to recover. Next comes the immune-suppression that is preventing the new Heart from getting rejected. So, Modified Immuno-suppression was used for that. Thanks to the adept doctors, his condition has improved a lot. Not only this, Dr. Balakrishnan also coordinated with the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore to keep a check on Moulana’s health. Moulana thanks Dr. Balakrishnan and the team at Fortis for giving him a new phase of life. He was teaching at a Mosque and aims to continue doing so after recovery.

Thank you, 

 

 
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