Chennai: High risk lung transplant done

Chennai: A high-risk bilateral lung transplant was performed on a 28-year-old lady from Mumbai at Fortis Malar Hospital recently. Nazanin Zuber Patel, was admitted with complaints of severe breathlessness, abdominal pain along with vomiting and a diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension since 2008.

The pressure in her lungs was 140 mmHg, as compared to a normal value of 25 mmHg. Her heart pumping was severely compromised, especially the right ventricle which was pumping only at 15 per cent capacity. After medically stabilizing, bilateral lung transplant was performed on Nazanin.

 However, post-transplant, the patient had persistent low blood pressure and hence, a balloon pump was inserted within the aorta.

 Nazanin was administered life support Veno Arterial Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) when blood pressure instability continued. She was put on Veno Venous ECMO to help reduce acute graft dysfunction in lungs. After a long recovery period, Nazanin became stable and was able to walk again. Speaking on the surgery, Dr. K R Balakrishnan said, “  Nazanin had Pulmonary Hypertension with her lung condition rapidly deteriorating and a transplant was the only option. To maintain any patient on ECMO for a month but post lung transplant with the risk of infection in a immune suppressed patient is a huge challenge. In complicated transplant surgeries like this, modern technology allows us to get excellent results but the treatment is expensive and complications cannot always be predicted. Funding mechanisms need to evolve in our country for such procedures to become universally available.”