Global Health City For The 1st Time In India Successfully Performed Lung

Transplantation After Donor Lung Volume Reduction; Hence, Raising The

Hopes For Many People Awaiting Donor Lungs

Chennai, 19th May: Hopes of a 30-year old woman from Haryana were kept alive at Global

Health City with the successful size-reduced lung transplantation, for the first time in India

such a surgical technique was used. By introducing this novel technique to India, Global

Health City offers a glimmer of hope to thousands of people who await donor lungs. With

this technique, the waiting time to receive a donor lung will be reduced significantly as the

utilization of donor lungs will be improved.

Mrs. Anita Devi was suffering from Scleroderma - an autoimmune disorder in which the

immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissue. Despite the medical treatment, her

condition started worsening and led to pulmonary fibrosis. Subsequently, she was referred to

Global Health City for further treatment 3 months back.

Dr. Vijil Rahulan – Senior Consultant Pulmonologist said, “Mrs. Anita Devi was a known

case of Bilateral Interstitial Lung Disease and Systemic Sclerosis. She was already on

maximal medical treatment steroid support and oxygen dependent up to 4 liters a day. After a

complete evaluation and with lung transplant as the only treatment option, she was registered

for cadaveric lung transplant program. In the meantime, she underwent a specialized

pulmonary rehabilitation program as a preparation for transplant.”

“Unlike other organs, getting donor lungs in a good condition has always been difficult.

Owing to the cause of death, only about 10 to 15% of the donor lungs can be transplanted

successfully. Adding to Anita Devi’s worries was her height and chest cavity. She was only

about 151 cms tall and her chest cavity was small. According to standard practice that we

follow, only the pediatric age group lung would aptly fit into her chest cavity. Considering

the extreme difficulty in getting pediatric donor lung and her deteriorating health conditions,

our team decided to adopt a new operative technique which allows downsizing of larger lungs

for use in smaller recipients” pointed out by Dr. Rahul Chandola – Senior Consultant

Heart & Lung Transplant Surgeon.

Explaining further on the occasion Dr. Govini Balasubramani – Senior Consultant Heart

& Lung Transplant Surgeon said, “this approach of downsizing of larger lungs for use in

smaller recipients has recently gained more widespread use in the western countries,

especially for highly urgent recipients; however, is still not considered a standard procedure.

But size-reduced lung transplantation is expected to offer a huge relief to hundreds of

recipients as it enlarges the donor pool and potentially reduces waiting time and waiting list

mortality. In the case of Mrs. Anita Devi, the size of donor lung was reduced by about 25% to

fit into her chest cavity.”

“I am very much thankful to the doctors at Global Health City for offering me another chance

to live my life and to spend time with my family. When I came here with a failed lung

condition, I and my family had a very little hope. Now with the successful lung transplant, I

am all set to start a fresh lease of life again”, said by Mrs. Anita Devi.

Highlighting the uniqueness of the procedure, Mr. Bhaskar Reddy – Vice President,

Corporate Relations added “Over the years, Global Health City has become a synonym to

the most preferred organ transplant centre and is one of the largest multi-organ transplant

centres in India. Adding to many first-of-its-kind transplant surgeries, today with India’s First

Tailored Donor Lung Transplant Global Health City has once again demonstrated its constant

endeavor to offer the best possible treatment to patients by combining contemporary

technology and processes.”