Yashoda Hospitals Performs First Lung Transplant in AP, India

Sept. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- Hyderabad, September 21, 2012: Yashoda Hospitals performed the first successful lung transplantation in Andhra Pradesh on Mrs. Archana Shedge, a 34-year old from Pune, taking the medical facilities in A.P. one step forward.  Yashoda Hospitals is one of two centres in India where world-class facilities for both lung and heart transplantations are available under one roof.

The lung transplantation was performed on 8th September 2012 by a team of cardiothoracic surgeons headed by Dr A.G.K. Gokhale, Chief Cardiothoracic, Transplant and Minimal Access Surgeon and Dr G. Subramanyam, Senior Consultant Anaesthetist, giving a new lease of life to Archana by making her breathe comfortably again.

For the last two years, Archana had been suffering from a lung condition called Interstitial Fibrosis, where lungs become stiff and oxygen does not go into the blood through the lungs. She was bedridden and was living on external supply of oxygen even at rest. The treating doctor at Bombay Hospital, Mumbai informed Archana and her family that the only option left to make her live longer is Lung Transplantation, as both the lungs were damaged.  After searching all over the country, the patient’s family finally came to Dr Gokhale at Yashoda Hospitals for this surgery about two months ago.  Archana was evaluated for lung transplantation by Dr Gokhale and Dr Gangadhar Reddy, Pulmonologist, and kept on waiting list for a lung donor.      

Speaking on Archana’s condition, Dr. Gokhale said, “The patient was evaluated thoroughly when she visited us. We also held tele-video discussions with lung transplant team at DeBakey Heart and Lung center, Houston, Texas. Once it was confirmed that there was no other option to save the patient, we kept her on a lung recipient waiting list. She stayed at a hotel near the hospital premises waiting desperately for a donor”

To her luck, on the evening of 8th September 2012, a patient was declared brain dead from bleeding inside the brain in another hospital at Hyderabad and her attendants magnanimously agreed to donate the organs to save other people on the deathbed.
“Once the donor’s lungs were evaluated the entire surgical and supportive team, approximately 30 people including anesthetists, perfusionists, physician assistants and nurses, and the administrative team headed by Dr  D. Surender Rao were called for an emergency meeting at 6:00 pm. Successful organ transplantation needs perfect planning and implementation. After a 2-hour exhaustive drill, the whole team was ready to create history” Dr. Gokhale added.    

Dr Gokhale and his team removed the lungs from the donor and performed the lengthy 14-hour surgery successfully, transplanting the right lung in Archana. She was brought back to the post-operative ICU at 10:00 am on 9th September 2012.

Joyous with the success, Dr. Gokhale recounted, “Those 14 hours were the most stressful for the entire team including the administrators. All of us were on our toes as it was happening for the first time.  It was history in the making for Yashoda Hospitals. The entire team breathed a sigh of relief once the new lung started functioning. Archana was taken off ventilator after 24 hours and when she started talking we were elated.”

Apart from Dr Gokhale, the surgical team included Dr Viswanath and Dr Dilip Ratti and the Anaesthesia team included Dr Subramanyam, Dr Sudhakar, Dr Madhav and Dr Venu.
We have two lungs in the chest that purify blood by giving oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from blood. When lungs get damaged, patients find it difficult to perform regular activities and get breathless even with walking small distances. They cannot breathe without external supply of oxygen and become bedridden. For many of these patients, drugs do not help. The only option for them to live longer and have good quality of life is Lung Transplantation.

Yashoda Heart and Lung Institute, by creating facilities for lung and heart transplantations under one roof, has created new hope to such patients who otherwise do not have the chance to live long. The transplant team at Yashoda has rich experience in performing complicated heart and lung surgeries. The team used the Ventricular Assist Device for the first time in Andhra Pradesh in July 2012 saving a patient’s life. Incidentally Dr A.G.K. Gokhale also performed the first successful heart transplant in Andhra Pradesh in 2004. He is one of the two surgeons in India who performed heart and lung transplants successfully so far.