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PRESS RELEASE
Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI) performs Heart Transplant to save life of
16 year old boy
Gurgaon-Delhi ‘Green Corridor”, first ever in Delhi-NCR
January 07, 2015: In yet another milestone achievement, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI), India’s
leading cardiac care facility, under the guidance of Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart
Institute conducted a heart transplant surgery on a 16 year old boy, giving him a new lease of life. The
operation was performed by Dr Z S Meharwal, Director of Cardiac Surgery at Fortis Escorts Heart
Institute along with a team of doctors including Dr Yugal Mishra, Dr Anil Karlekar, Dr KK Sharma, Dr
Vishal Rastogi and Dr Sameer Shrivastava.
The recipient, a 16 year old boy was suffering from a condition called Idiopathic Dilated Cardio
Myopathy, an end stage heart disease with a poor heart function, and an Ejection Fraction of 15%. He
had been consulting FEHI for treatment of this disease and was advised heart transplantation when
he came to the hospital two months ago with symptoms of severe breathlessness.
The donor of the heart was a 30 year old IT professional. He suddenly collapsed in the washroom, at
a surprise party planned by his colleagues at his workplace in Gurgaon on December 30, to celebrate
his mid-term promotion. He had suffered intra-cranial bleeding and was rushed to a local hospital.
When he could not be revived, he was moved to Fortis Medical Research Institute (FMRI). Despite the
best efforts of the team of doctors at FMRI, he was declared brain dead on January 3, at 8:48 am. The
family, based in Hyderabad took a noble decision to donate the organs and saved six valuable lives.
Dr. Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, said, ”There are approximately 46 lakh
patients who suffer from heart failure in India and 10% of these die every year. This first heart
transplant at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute represents a landmark event due to the noble act of organ
donation by the young man's parents and the creation of a traffic-less ‘corridor of life’ by the police,
through which the heart was speedily transported, from FMRI, Gurgaon to Fortis Escorts Heart
Institute, in South Delhi. The successful transplantation was made possible because of the smooth
collaboration between the clinical and administrative teams of Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New
Delhi, FMRI, Gurgaon and Fortis Malar, Chennai with clockwork precision. The new heart started
beating at 5:30 pm, in exactly 2-hours and seven minutes after its retrieval.”
Added Dr Seth, “We aim to expand this collaboration to airlift donor hearts from other cities for
transplantation at FEHI, to bridge the availability factor. We hope that this landmark event will make
more people pledge their organs for donation so patients dying of heart failures can live."
Sharing details of the procedure, Dr. ZS Meharwal, Director and Coordinator, Cardiovascular Surgery,
FEHI and Chief Operating Surgeon for the case, said, “When we received information of a
matching donor heart, the recipient was immediately admitted and prepared for the procedure, as
our team of doctors went to FMRI Gurgaon to assess the donor heart. An Echocardiography performed
showed that available heart had a good ejection fraction and the decision to perform the Heart
Transplant was taken. “
Added Dr Meharwal, “Our retrieval team went to FMRI and we prepared the patient (recipient) at
Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. The recipient was put on the heart lung machine as soon as the heart
reached the hospital. The most important thing in a heart surgery is the time between retrieval and
implantation, a crucial period when the donor heart is without oxygen. We removed the diseased
heart and implanted the donor heart within 50 minutes. The total time, from retrieval to implantation
took 100 minutes. The heart started beating soon after it was implanted. The patient was taken off
the ventilator the next day and has made an excellent recovery. The patient is now on supportive
drugs, in addition to drugs that will prevent infection and rejection.”
Dr. Avnish Seth, Director Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant (FORT) said, “In our country, the
majority of organ transplants are carried out with living donors. This limits donation to one kidney or
a part of the liver. Transplantation of the heart, lungs, pancreas and small intestine is possible only
with donation following brain death. A robust deceased organ transplant program could give a new
lease of life to millions of patients with advanced degrees of organ failure. We extend our heartfelt
gratitude to the Gurgaon and Delhi Police force who have partnered us in taking this operation
seamlessly to victory. We hope that we can make the Delhi-NCR ‘Corridor of Life’ a routine process
that can save several thousand lives.”
To enable an uninterrupted passage for the heart, a Green Corridor was created to cover the 32
kilometers stretch between Fortis Medical Research Institute and Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. This
was the first ever Green Corridor created in Delhi, NCR, through the seamless collaboration between
hospitals in the city, and the Gurgaon and Delhi Police. The convoy of ambulances covered the
distance in 29 minutes and travelled at a speed of over 100 kmph. A police escort vehicle was deployed
to clear the route and ensure seamless travel on both sides of the geographical divide.
About Fortis Escorts Heart Institute
Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI), Delhi, a pioneer and centre of excellence in cardiac care, is celebrating 25
years of path-breaking work and service to the numerous heart patients, who have benefitted from treatment,
at this outstanding facility. Armed with clinical expertise and cutting-edge medical technology, the hospital has
set enviable benchmarks in Cardiac Bypass Surgery, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Interventional Cardiology, Noninvasive Cardiology, Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. Till date, FEHI has successfully completed
over 1,72,000 Coronary Angiographies, over 90,000 Cardiac Surgeries and almost 52,000 Coronary Angioplasties,
in addition to several life-saving procedures. The hospital also performed India’s first Trans Catheter Aortic Valve
Implantation (TAVI) and Bioresorable Vascular Scaffold (BVS); Asia Pacific’s first Directional Atherectomy,
Angioscopy, Drug Eluting Stenting, etc. Over the years, FEHI has cloned a Heart Care Network of 19 hospitals and
Heart Command Centers in India and abroad. It has also launched the revolutionary e-ICU program, enabling
remote and timely access to critical care. Fortis Escorts Heart Institute
has won numerous awards and accolades, the most recent among them being the ‘Best Cardiology Hospital’ at
the ICICI Lombard & CNBC TV18 India Healthcare Awards for 2012, 2013 and the No 1. Ranking in the Private
Cardiac category Hospital by The Week Nielson Best Hospitals Survey, 2014.
About FORT
Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant (FORT) provides a registry to pledge ones organs during life and 24-hour
referral service for assistance with documentation and procedures related to the process of organ donation.
FORT was established in 2012 with an aim to promote and streamline the process of organ donation following
brain death in hospitals of Fortis Healthcare Ltd, the largest provider of private healthcare in India. The activities
of FORT includes establishing protocol on diagnosis of brain death and organ donation, assistance in applying
for and updating brain death committee and retrieval centres, training of transplant coordinators and setting up
organ pledging facility.
For more information, please contact:
Fortis Healthcare Ltd.
Nibha Bhandari Vyas: +91-9811065557,
[email protected]
Vidya Pawan Kapoor: +91-9899996189,
[email protected]
MSLGROUP, Delhi
Shivani Sharma: +91 9999216424
[email protected]