Heart Transplant successful at Kottayam Medical College

The fifth heart transplant surgery of the Kottayam Government Medical College in Kerala, India was held recently. Sanjeev Gopi, who took the treatment at the department of Cardiology of the Kottayam Medical College, received his heart from Aster Med City Hospital, Ernakulum, Kerala. The heart transplant was efficiently managed by a team of medical professionals under the leadership of Dr. T.K. Jayakumar, the Head of the department of Cardiology and it was the same team that handled all five transplants.

The transplant took almost 3 hours. It was on last Friday that Aster Med City informed about the availability of heart for the transplant. By 8.00 am, the team of doctors moved to Ernakulam to collect the heart and by noon, it was confirmed that the heart was fit and suitable for transplant after various tests. By 2.00 pm, the team returned to Kottayam and reached the medical college by 3.15 pm. By this time, Sanjeev was medically prepared to receive the transplant and by 3.30, medical procedures to replace the heart started.

Sanjeev was under treatment from 2017 and two weeks ago, he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit, following his situation becoming critical. Doctors diagnosed that the only solution was a heart transplant and it was during this time that Aster Med City informed that the heart was available. The donor heart was from  Nibiya Mary Joseph (25) who was injured in a road accident on Monday had brain death on Thursday night. Her family decided to donate her organs on Friday morning.

Sanjeev was a student of Welding and Computer and has his parents, his twin brother and his sister at home. The family is not financially stable and has received financial help from the Panchayath for the treatment. The family has no financial means for the further expenses of the treatment.