Global Health City For The 1st Time In India Successfully Performed Lung

Transplantation After Donor Lung Volume Reduction; Hence, Raising The

Hopes For Many People Awaiting Donor Lungs
Chennai, 19th May: Hopes of a 30-year old woman from Haryana were kept alive at Global
Health City with the successful size-reduced lung transplantation, for the first time in India
such a surgical technique was used. By introducing this novel technique to India, Global
Health City offers a glimmer of hope to thousands of people who await donor lungs. With
this technique, the waiting time to receive a donor lung will be reduced significantly as the
utilization of donor lungs will be improved.
Mrs. Anita Devi was suffering from Scleroderma - an autoimmune disorder in which the
immune system mistakenly attacks the bodys own tissue. Despite the medical treatment, her
condition started worsening and led to pulmonary fibrosis. Subsequently, she was referred to
Global Health City for further treatment 3 months back.
Dr. Vijil Rahulan Senior Consultant Pulmonologist said, Mrs. Anita Devi was a known
case of Bilateral Interstitial Lung Disease and Systemic Sclerosis. She was already on
maximal medical treatment steroid support and oxygen dependent up to 4 liters a day. After a
complete evaluation and with lung transplant as the only treatment option, she was registered
for cadaveric lung transplant program. In the meantime, she underwent a specialized
pulmonary rehabilitation program as a preparation for transplant.
Unlike other organs, getting donor lungs in a good condition has always been difficult.
Owing to the cause of death, only about 10 to 15% of the donor lungs can be transplanted
successfully. Adding to Anita Devis worries was her height and chest cavity. She was only
about 151 cms tall and her chest cavity was small. According to standard practice that we
follow, only the pediatric age group lung would aptly fit into her chest cavity. Considering
the extreme difficulty in getting pediatric donor lung and her deteriorating health conditions,
our team decided to adopt a new operative technique which allows downsizing of larger lungs
for use in smaller recipients pointed out by Dr. Rahul Chandola Senior Consultant
Heart & Lung Transplant Surgeon.
Explaining further on the occasion Dr. Govini Balasubramani Senior Consultant Heart
& Lung Transplant Surgeon said, this approach of downsizing of larger lungs for use in
smaller recipients has recently gained more widespread use in the western countries,
especially for highly urgent recipients; however, is still not considered a standard procedure.
But size-reduced lung transplantation is expected to offer a huge relief to hundreds of
recipients as it enlarges the donor pool and potentially reduces waiting time and waiting list
mortality. In the case of Mrs. Anita Devi, the size of donor lung was reduced by about 25% to
fit into her chest cavity.

I am very much thankful to the doctors at Global Health City for offering me another chance
to live my life and to spend time with my family. When I came here with a failed lung
condition, I and my family had a very little hope. Now with the successful lung transplant, I
am all set to start a fresh lease of life again, said by Mrs. Anita Devi.
Highlighting the uniqueness of the procedure, Mr. Bhaskar Reddy Vice President,
Corporate Relations added Over the years, Global Health City has become a synonym to
the most preferred organ transplant centre and is one of the largest multi-organ transplant
centres in India. Adding to many first-of-its-kind transplant surgeries, today with Indias First
Tailored Donor Lung Transplant Global Health City has once again demonstrated its constant
endeavor to offer the best possible treatment to patients by combining contemporary
technology and processes.