Back-to-back organ donations: Heart, kidneys save 3 in 2 days
Times of India | 1 August 2024
Kolkata: Kolkata recorded another deceased organ donation on Wednesday, a back-to-back such donation in two consecutive days. Doctors found only the heart of the deceased donor fit. The 54-year-old’s heart is set to save the life of a 35-year-old man in far away Gurugram in Haryana. This was the 11th deceased organ donation in Bengal this year.
According to sources, the deceased Mousumi De of Bankura had met with a road accident near her village a few days ago.The patient was brought to the Trauma Care Centre (TCC) of Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER) with severe head injury.
“Despite an emergency surgery for the head injury on July 22 the patient kept sinking and suffered an irreversible brain stem death. All possible efforts were madeto save the patient,” said critical care medical physician Rajat Choudhury, in-charge of TCC.
The counsellors at SSKM started approaching the family of the homemaker for organ donation. Once they gave the consent the brain death declaration committee informed ROTTO (east) and declared De brain dead on Tuesday.
While assessing her organs doctors found only the heart fit for transplant. On finding no matching takers in Kolkata, ROTTO (east) coordinated with NOTTO to offer the organ to other states. A matching recipient waiting for heart transplant was traced at Fortis Hospital Gurugram. A team from the hospital flew into Kolkata on Wednesday morning and flew back with the donor’s heart which was then transplanted into the 35-year-old man.
On Tuesday, the two kidneys of Kumkum Chakraborty were transplanted into two renal failure patients after the retired school head mistress’s family consented to the donation. The family also donated Chakraborty’s body to the anatomy department of SSKM.
In 2023 Bengal logged 16 deceased organ donations, making it the best tally since the state registered the first organ donation in 2010. The city logged the year’s first deceased organ donation on Feb 13.