The Hindu Business Line : Global Hospitals opens cardiac unit

HOPING to join the thinly populated heart transplantation club in the country, city-based Global Hospitals will soon perform heart transplantations, which is expected to bridge the gap between the number of people suffering from end-stage heart problems needing to have a heart transplant and facilities to conduct such transplants.

Global Hospitals, which has already established expertise in liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantations, opened a cardiac division today, drawing a very experienced team of doctors and technicians from a city corporate hospital.

The hospital is planning to perform the first heart transplantation early next year. "We will do routine cardiac surgeries for a while. We have to do the regular job before taking up transplantations. A team will visit Australia for two weeks to study the practice there," Dr Gokhale G.K. Alla, a consultant cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon, said.

Addressing reporters here to announce the launch of the cardiac division, he said some extra equipment needed for the purpose would be installed next month.

This hospital has good infrastructure for performing transplantations. It helps avert post-operative infections, according to Dr Shailender Singh, a interventional cardiologist.

Dr Gokhale said the hearts transplanted within 3-4 hours after procurement would work longer.

According to him, about 25 heart transplantations had been performed in India, with a fairly good success rate.

The rate of success globally is around 75-80 per cent eight years after performing the transplantation. "They would have died in six months had not they undergone the transplantation," he said.

"The key for the concept of heart transplantations in India is awareness. India has a huge population, giving us an advantage. In the US, awareness levels are high but population is less," he said.

Dr K. Ravindranath, Managing Director of Global Hospitals, said the opening of the cardiac division is part of hospital's endeavour to make it a multi-organ transplantation centre.

"The total investments into the hospital so far is Rs 30 crore. We are putting in Rs 7-8 crore more for the cardiac division."

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