Rejected Heart Becomes Lifeline For 8-year-old Russian Boy in Chennai Hospital
Being a foreign national Roman was eligible for a heart in India only if other recipients rejected it.
Chennai, Mar 20: A rejected heart became the lifeline of an eight-year-old Russian boy who was admitted to Chennai hospital with a heart condition. As only 35 percent of the heart function, the doctors decided to reject it, but Ekaterina, the boy's mother decided to take the chance for her son, Roman. Also, being a foreign national Roman was eligible for a heart in India only if other recipients rejected it. The young boy was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy due to which the heart cannot pump blood fast.
The Russian government has been providing their financial support for the treatment. Roman has had a heart transplant, three heart attacks, undergone angioplasty and stenting. Although with complications, the single unemployed mother decided to go ahead with the surgery.
The Times of India quoted Dr Suresh Rao, chief of the critical care unit at Fortis Malar hospital as saying, "Other doctors rejected this heart because it was only 35% functional. The donor was an adult and the heart could be too big for this boy. But we went ahead because we didn’t know when the next heart would come."
When Roman first suffered cardiac arrest, doctors massaged his heart for 45 minutes. They then connected his chest to a heart pump or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine.
The hospital flagged a "super ultra-emergency" on the waiting list. Following which the hospital received a call from Tamil Nadu State Transplant Authority abotu the heart which others had rejected. He also suffered a massive cardiac arrest on the surgery table. Following, the doctors transplanted the heart. After connecting him to the ECMO following a second cardiac arrest, he suffered a third one on February 15. He had three major blocks which required angioplasty and coronary stenting.
As they prepared to leave on Monday, Transplant surgeon Dr K R Balakrishnan said Roman's recovery has been an "astonishing story". A team of doctors and paramedics have been overlooking his case since he arrived at the hospital on January 4.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2018 05:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).