A brain dead woman from Bengaluru has given a new lease of life to eight patients.
The 46-year-old, who was suffering from hypertension, had a massive brain haemorrhage. She was admitted to a nearby hospital and was shifted to Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta later for further management of haemorrhage.
The patient was unresponsive to stimuli and didn't show any signs of improvement. After she was declared brain dead, her brother, a radiologist decided to donate her organs. Eight organs-heart, two kidneys, lungs, liver, cornea and skin- were retrieved from her. ''Of these, two kidneys and a liver were allocated to Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, heart and lungs to MGM Hospital, Chennai; corneas to Narayana Nethralaya; and skin to Victoria Hospital Skin bank,'' said Dr Mohan Keshavamurthy, director Urology, Uro-oncology, Andrology, Transplant and Robotic Surgery at Fortis Hospitals, Bannerghatta.
The organ donation has given a second chance at life to an army veteran suffering from chronic liver disease with decompensated cirrhosis and hepatitis B. The 58-year-old's search for a suitable donor from his family had hit a dead end and he had been on a waiting list for nine months.
“Two women, aged 50 and 39 years, have also got a new lease of life with a simultaneous kidney transplant, thanks to the organ donation by the deceased donor. The transplant surgeries were done in the middle of the night. Both the recipients were suffering from end stage renal failure and were undergoing hemodialysis since the past two years,'' said Keshavamurthy. ''What struck an emotional chord with him is that the donor as well as the recipients were females. ''Usually in our culture, a female donates and a male receives a kidney. For instance, transplants are usually from a mother to a child or from a wife to a husband.'' The recipients are hale and hearty now.
A transplant can add years to a patient's life. '' It can improve one's quality of life significantly,'' said Keshavamurthy. Kidney transplant, he says, has several advantages over dialysis.'' In today's day and age, a patient on dialysis does survive longer than before. But the quality of life is impaired, especially because they have to come three times a week or dialysis. Also, they feel tired due to Lassitude (listlessness due to electrolyte imbalance) post dialysis.'' Kidney transplant patients on the other hand can lead a near normal life. ''Kidney transplant restores sexual function often and is especially important in younger patients with renal failure,'' he added.