Bengaluru: The tech capital witnessed a medical marathon like no other when doctors from four hospitals, aided by the city’s traffic police, pulled off three heart transplants in under 12 hours. The mission: Saving three patients in their 30s, who were running out of time as their lung pressure edged towards the point of no return.All three donor hearts — which were retrieved from Sparsh Hospital in Yelahanka, Aster CMI Hospital in Hebbal and Manipal Hospital on Old Airport Road — were raced through the city on green corridors organised by Bengaluru traffic police. The hearts were to reach Narayana Health City in Bommasandra, where these were to be transplanted into three patients in their 30s. The three had reportedly reached a critical stage where rising lung pressure could soon have made them ineligible for transplantation.The medical operation started on the night of Sept 8 and ended the next morning. “It is very rare for three hearts to come by to a single hospital on the same day like this. The patients who received the hearts were waiting for more than a year and were suffering for several years from heart failure. The three transplantations within 12 hours were a mix of hard work and luck,” said Dr Varun Shetty, senior consultant cardiac surgeon at Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences (Narayana Health).Two retrieval teams and two surgical teams worked non-stop for the transplantations. One of the retrieval teams first went to Sparsh Hospital and, after collecting the donor heart, went to Aster CMI. The other team went to Manipal Hospital for retrieval. Both teams were provided with a green corridor by BTP until Narayana Health City at night.The surgical team conducted the first surgery at 10pm on Sept 8, followed by the next one at 2am and the third at 7am on Sept 9.“This unparalleled coordination was also made possible by the crucial support and facilitation provided by Jeevan Sarthakathe (SOTTO – State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation), which played a key role in enabling timely organ allocation and transportation across the city,” Dr Varun acknowledged.Apollo hospital said organ reached the hospital well within the medically-critical ‘golden window.’ This effort has given a new lease of life to a 33-year-old doctor from Assam, who had been suffering from heart failure since long. He had been waiting for a heart transplant since 2023, but was unable to get a suitable donor. “He was recently admitted to Apollo Hospitals, Seshadripuram, where he was listed on an emergency basis. The transplant surgery was successfully completed by 4am on Friday,” a press release stated.
