Battling with heart failure could be fatal if the patient is at the end-stage of the condition. But the scenario proved to be miracle for a 41-year-old man from Delhi, who revived 13 times even after reaching end-stage heart failure.
The man, identified as Shubhankar Dhar Choudhary, received a new life after undergoing a transplant surgery successfully at a private hospital in the city. There, he survived on a high-end device till he received the organ. Due to his worsening condition, Choudhary was put on an LVAD.
LVAD or left ventricular assist device, is a pump that is inserted inside the patient who have reached end-stage heart failure. The device has thin wire which is kept emerging out of the body that can be linked to a power source outside. It works as a "window of sustenance" for the patient who needs to undergo heart transplant, which is removed only when the organ arrives.
"In a case like his, the LVAD came as a bridge to transplant, prolonging his life enough to be able to receive a transplant," said Kewal Krishna, Director of Heart Transplant and Ventricular Assist Devices, Max Saket, who treated Choudhary.
The patient had to be revived 13 times through injections, claimed the spokesperson of the hospital, as his condition would fluctuate every time. "The patient had suffered from multiple episodes in 2013 like arrhythmia, vomiting, severe perspiration and dizziness and was given a pacemaker," he said.
In India, where only about 3,500 organ transplants are performed every year among 10 lakh people suffering from end-stage of organ failure, LVAD has come as blessing for these patients, said Krishna.
"India has a long way to go before we can match the demand for heart transplants in the country. There is a dire need to aggressively spread awareness about the colossal gap that exists between the organ donors and those who need it in India," said the director.
