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Frontier Lifeline Conducts Heart Transplant on Youngest Candidate in India

Frontier Lifeline, Chennai recently conducted heart transplant on the youngest candidate in India so far. Nine-year-old Abirami received the gift of life on the September 23, 2008. The donor was a 16-year-old boy Hithendran, who died in a road accident. The heart itself found its way smoothly from Apollo Specialty hospital, where it was expertly harvested by Frontier Lifeline's Organ Harvest Team, to Frontier Lifeline in a record time of 11 minutes.

Said Dr KMCherian, Chairman & CEO, Frontier Lifeline, who pioneered heart transplant in the private sector, " Within 28 minutes of having been removed from the donor's body, the heart found itself placed in its new home and it was a matter of expert surgical skills which got the heart beating once more, 90 minutes after it had last beat within the chest of the donor."

Abirami had previously undergone stem cell therapy at Frontier which was unsuccessful. "Her final and only option was a heart transplant within a very limited time frame. The critical phone call came after Hithendran's parents who were both doctors, decided on a multi-organ donation, thus benefiting at least five others apart from Abirami. Their medical training contributed to their spontaneous consent, thus allowing the maximum usage of Hithendran's organs," he added.

The Governor of Tamil Nadu arranged for a Memorial Ceremony at the Raj Bhavan as a gesture of appreciation to Hithendran's family. “With a greater awareness propagated through the print and electronic media and the heart-warming response of our young civic-conscious citizens, we as a billion can surely make a difference in the lives of millions," said Dr Cherian.

"The successfully completed heart transplant in recent days is proof of the phenomenal advancement in telecommunications and transportation in our nation. What used to take days to organise and co-ordinate was achieved in a matter of hours, well within the critical window of opportunity permissible, known as the 'golden hour,’ for such a delicate and complex procedure," he added.

EH News Bureau