In a rare cadaveric organ donation, a 47-year-old brain dead woman at Medica gave a fresh lease of life to a patient in city

Kolkata, September 30, 2018:  Mrs. Champa Naskar, (a 47-year old lady), a hypertensive and chronic kidney disease patient on maintenance haemodialysis was admitted to Medica on 23rd September, 2018. She was complaining of drowsiness and convulsion. She was diagnosed with massive Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) with Intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH). In such a situation, considering her massive bleeding and poor Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), operative intervention was ruled out. She continued to remain on conservative management. On detailed diagnosis, she was found to have no brain stem reflexes, confirmed by the brain death committee of Medica. Medica declared the brain death of the patient after second apnea test. Following this, the patient’s relatives were counselled for organ donation.  The woman’s husband, Mr. Swapan Kumar Naskar, agreed to donate her heart and liver, following her death due to brain haemorrhage.

Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) authorities were duly informed regarding the same, immediately. As a result, the apex organisation that carries out organ and tissue transplant in the region, informed us back saying that the Heart and Liver of the patient had been successfully allocated to one of the Private Hospitals on E M Bypass.

Only the liver was retrieved. The heart was NOT fit for harvesting.

“Medica will always extend its sincere support to organ transplantation initiative. We are glad that hospitals in Kolkata have performed as a cohesive unit with excellent clinical outcome. Our own transplant program is expected to start in the near future. Our respect and gratitude to the family for their act of their ultimate humanitarian gesture. May our faith in Kolkata and its people be blessed,” said Dr. Kunal Sarkar, Senior Vice Chairman & Cardiac Surgeon, Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

“No doubt, this is indeed a great example in the City of Joy where such a noble initiative can help in to create mass awareness in organ donation. Medica has always been path breaking in its consistent effort in health care domain and this example will indeed be encouraging in the days to come. In various health care centres, there isn’t sufficient infrastructure to support such demands. Medica Group of Hospitals truly caters to such demands. We are grateful to the state government for supporting all the stakeholders,” said Dr. Alok Roy, Chairman, Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

“We were in constant touch with the ROTTO authorities and the Recipient Hospital. We did the Organ Retrieval today early morning (30/09/2018) at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, after completing all the formalities as per the NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) guidelines,” said the MEDICA team of doctors.