
AIIMS to launch heart transplant programme today
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Jaipur: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jodhpur will launch its heart transplant programme Monday which will enhance advanced cardiac care and transplant capabilities in the region.
Dr K R Balakrishnan, chairman of Cardiac Sciences and director of the Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support, Chennai, will visit Jodhpur to attend postgraduate inaugural session at AIIMS Jodhpur.
In the absence of a heart transplant programme at AIIMS Jodhpur, the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization allocated a heart harvested at AIIMS Jodhpur in July 2024 to SMS Hospital.
The heart was retrieved from a 25-year-old woman named Anita. The heart was transported to Jaipur through a coordinated effort involving Jodhpur and Jaipur district administrations, traffic police, and airport authorities. The flight carrying the heart departed from Jodhpur and reached Jaipur, allowing the medical team to complete the transplantation within the critical three-hour window. Now, AIIMS Jodhpur will launch its own heart transplant programme to perform heart transplants.
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Balakrishnan is among India's most eminent heart and lung transplant surgeons. He performed over 329 heart transplants and 65 lung transplants, in addition to pioneering milestones such as India's first LVAD (HeartMate II) implant, first HVAD pump implant, and the country's first paediatric heart transplant.
He independently conducted more than 20,000 heart operations and, under his leadership, established one of the largest adult and paediatric heart transplant programmes in India.
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