Heart Transplantation in India

Heart transplantation is an operation in which a person’s diseased heart is replaced with a healthy heart which comes from a recently deceased donor. Mostly, individuals go through various treatments, therapies, medications; if none of these gives a desired result, heart transplant is the option. Heart transplant in India has given gift of life to many.

Who needs a heart transplant?

People who have:

Heart valve disease
End stage heart failure/any life threatening heart disease
Cardiomyopathy disease of heart muscle (a heart disease, usually chronic, with an unknown/obscure cause)
Coronary artery disease
Babies having serious heart dysfunction, some of the illnesses affecting heart including congenital heart disease

Heart transplant’s procedure:-

Heart transplant surgery usually takes about 4 hours. It is performed under general anesthesia.
Usually intravenous antibiotics are given to prevent bacterial wound infection.
The surgeon opens the chest cavity and connects the patient to a heart-lung machine (a machine that is used to take over the functions of heart and lungs for pumping, oxygenating blood, especially during surgery) This procedure is also called cardio pulmonary bypass.
After removal of the diseased heart the donor heart is attached to the patient’s blood vessels
After the connection of the blood vessels, the new heart is warmed and begins beating, if not, the surgeon gives an electric shock which makes the muscle fibers contract in a coordinated manner
The patient is taken off the heart-lung machine. The surgeon assesses the heart’s function and makes sure there are no leaks before closing the incision.
The new heart is stimulated to maintain a regular beat with medications for 2 to 5 days until it begins beating at its own.
A few days after surgery are often spent in an intensive care unit.

Rejection prevention after a heart transplant:-

When body receives any organ from other body, it may go under a period called rejection. The body identifies and fights against the foreign tissues. Thus, any individual who undergoes a heart transplant need to be under thorough anti-rejection treatment so that his body doesn’t reject the new heart. Advanced anti-rejection medications are being developed for better results and decrease the infection risks because of weak immune functions.

Cost of heart transplantation in India:-

The major selling point is undoubtedly ‘the price’. The graph of cost differences round the globe tells that the cost in India is a tenth or even 16th part of that of the west. Majority of the best Indian doctors have excelled from the West itself, they are U.K/U.S certified. Cost is not a matter of concern on this land. The cost offered is much lower than traditional hospitals in developed countries. Not only world class technology but also fabulous facilities with almost a free holiday make India the country where having heart transplantation will not only give life to your body and smile to your face but also make your purse happy.

There is plenty of world class hospitals in India located 5 at Delhi, 8 at Mumbai, 3 at Bangalore, 2 at Ahmedabad and also at Goa, Nagpur, Chennai, Mohali, Kolkata, Pune, Cochin and Indore. The number is dramatically increasing.

Heart transplantation in India holds a hope for large number of patients. A smooth donor mechanism will even optimize it. The costs involved have become affordable. India stands with prudent pride to be the third country on the globe to perform such a life giving operation. She is fast emerging as the best chosen place for a variety of treatments.