KIMSHEALTH Collaborates with MGM Healthcare for Heart-lung Transplants

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
KIMSHEALTH and MGM Healthcare have collaborated to establish a Comprehensive Heart & Lung Transplantation Unit at KIMSHEALTH Trivandrum.

KIMSHEALTH Trivandrum, a quaternary care multi-organ transplant centre, has established itself as a leading centre in the region to perform various organ transplants like kidney, liver and combined kidney-liver transplants. Expanding the multi-organ transplant programme, it has established expertise in complicated liver transplants including paediatric transplants and ABO incompatible transplants. Having successfully completed over 800 organ transplants, with a success rate on par with international standards, KIMSHEALTH has commissioned KIMSHEALTH EAST which has a dedicated facility for multi-organ transplants. The transplantation team comprises dedicated surgeons, anaesthetists and intensivists who are supported by perfusionists, technicians and nurses.

MGM Healthcare is a quaternary care super-specialty hospital in the heart of Chennai city. It has been recognised as one of the superlative health-caring hospitals to have performed all solid organ transplants, within its first year of existence. MGM Healthcare is currently one of the leading hospitals for heart-lung transplants in the country. The heart-lung transplant team at MGM, led by Dr KR Balakrishnan, has successfully performed over 400 heart and lung surgeries. MGM Healthcare is Asia’s first hospital to perform a Berlin heart implantation (total artificial heart) on a two-year-old as well as Asia’s first hospital to perform bilateral lung transplant for a patient with COVID-induced lung damage. It also runs Asia’s largest ECMO programme.

“Heart transplant remains the gold standard for the treatment of end-stage heart failure. The first successful heart transplant in India was done in 1994 and the patient survived for 14 years. Over the years, we have seen increased awareness and an increasing societal acceptance of cadaver donation for heart transplant, which is a positive trend. With this collaboration, KIMSHEALTH will become an international destination for multi-organ transplants,” said DrM I Sahadulla, Group Chairman and Managing Director, KIMSHEALTH.

“KIMS Charitable Trust has earmarked Rs 50 lakh for making these transplants affordable to those who are facing financial challenges,” Dr Sahadulla revealed.

Dr Sheriff Sahadulla, Group CEO, KIMSHEALTH, through videoconferencing, said that the initiative will be beneficial to patients and the community as well.

“Individuals who have suffered from severe heart failure following which the heart loses its capacity to function optimally are recommended for heart transplant surgery. End-stage usually entails that all other forms of treatments — such as medications, device support and other therapies to improve heart function — have all been tried out but to no avail. However, not every individual who has been diagnosed with end-stage heart disease will be considered for heart transplantation. We run a heart failure clinic and maintain a registry for heart failure patients and deserving patients for transplant are selected based on proper clinical evaluation,” said Dr G Vijayaraghavan, Vice-Chairman and Head of Cardiology, KIMSHEALTH.

“MGM Healthcare is one of the leading hospitals for heart-lung transplant and heart failure management across the country today. Investing in the best clinical expertise, in advanced technology and in state-of-the-art infrastructure, we have been consistently delivering better patient outcomes. This MoU with KIMSHEALTH will further our collective cause of providing better healthcare facilities in a country that has a high mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease,” said Dr Prashanth Rajagopalan, Director, MGM Healthcare.

Speaking about the partnership, Dr KR Balakrishnan, Director, Institute of Heart & Lung Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support, MGM Healthcare, said, “Our clinical team at MGM Healthcare will be working closely with the clinical team at KIMSHEALTH to establish the heart and lung transplant and heart failure management programmes, and provide treatment options for patients in both institutions. Medical technology and treatment protocols have greatly evolved over the past few years. Ensuring that patients get the best that the medical world has to offer is this team’s and this hospital’s primary goal.”

Dr Suresh Rao K G, Co-Director – Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support and HOD – Cardiac Anaesthesia, MGM Healthcare, added, “We provide advanced medical care, especially for those with serious and critical cardiac and pulmonary-related conditions who are unable to cope up with normal life, even with maximum possible medical treatment.”

Dr Sahadulla and Dr Suresh Rao exchanged the memorandum of understanding (MoU) of the collaboration on the occasion.

Dr Sujit V.I and Dr Shaji Palangadan – Cardiothoracic and Transplant Surgeons from KIMSHEALTH, Dr Praveen Muralidharan – Director Transplant Program, E M Najeeb – Executive Director, Harish Manian, CEO, MGM Healthcare, and Saravanan Raman, Vice President, MGM Healthcare, were also present at the press conference.