Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

The Transplantation of Human Organs Act-1994 was introduced in 1994 to help in Organ Donation for the needed ones, and also to stop commercial dealings of human organs which includes both Living adn Dead Donors (Cadaver Donors).

According to this act, a person can donate, a doctor can remove and patients can accept those organs as per the law.

Though the act was passed in 1994, the number of cadaver donors are very less.A single BRAIN DEAD person can give life to atleast 9 (nine) different individuals..Around 8 to 10 Brain Dead persons are found in various hospitals at any point of time in major cities like Bangalore.

Around 8 crores people in India need a transplant,whereas only 20 to 30 people out of every million people may become potential donors.From January 1995 till date, hardly 40 hearts from Cadaver Donors in India were transplanted which is abysmally low as compared to the demand.

Organ failure can strike anybody at any time as a result of illness or infection. For most people who experience organ failure, a transplant is their only realistic treatment option. If you die, your organs could help several people through organ transplants and many others through tissue grafts. For e.g. your liver could save the life of someone whose liver has been damaged through illness or accident. A person who is attached to a dialysis machine could return to full-time work after receiving one kidney. Every effort is made to save your life before donation is considered and donation does not disfigure the body.

In Bangalore alone around 2000 patients are with life support of DIALYSIS. All of them need Kidney Transplantation and it is increasing in number. While so far in Karnataka only 10 Cadaver Donations have been taken place.

The Karnataka Olympic Association has organized a Walkathon for Organ Donation on Sunday the 10th May 2009 at 8 a.mThe Flag off from VIDHANA SOUDHA and Ends at SREE KANTEERAVA STADIUM

We encourage everyone including our medical fraternity to Pledge today for Organ Donation and give some a new ray of life... and who knows you too could become a recipient !!

The Pediatric cardiac team at Wockhardt Hospitals has written a new chapter in the history of Pediatric Heart Surgery in India. An 11 month old baby girl from Orissa has become a rare case to be successfully operated for Congenitally Corrected Transposition of Great Arteries (CCTGA) which occurs in less than 1% of children born with heart defects. The Pediatric cardiac team at Wockhardt Hospitals led by Dr. Devananda, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon successfully completed this six hour surgery on the little baby without any complications.

Baby Pinky (name changed) who is the second child in the family was observed to have breathing difficulty in her second month and upon consultation with the local doctors in Orissa they were referred to Bangalore for further consultation and treatment. The family visited a couple of renowned hospitals in Bangalore but the hospitals had no surgical solution to offer and refused to operate upon the child due to the complexity of the case. That is when the child was brought to Wockhardt Hospitals.

The diagnosis by the doctors at Wockhardt Hospitals revealed that the baby was born with ventricular septral defect and straddling tricuspid valve. In this case the pumping chambers (ventricles) are switched along with the great arteries (aorta and pulmonary artery). The baby also had a large hole in between the ventricles and encroaching of one of the valves across the hole. Children born with this kind of defect might also have abnormal electrical conduction system which means they might be highly susceptible to a complete heart block.

Explaining the case Dr. Devananda, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals said, “This is one of the rarest cases we have observed in congenital heart defects where the chambers along with the arteries were in the reversed position. Since it was a complex case we had to perform three cardiac procedures on the baby in one sitting. First we had to do the closure of the VSD (ventricular septal defect) in such a way that the encroachment of the valve should not hamper the blood flow. Secondly, we redirected the pure and impure blood to the respective normal ventricles (atrial switch) and thirdly we switched the great arteries to the respective ventricles (arterial switch).” This complex condition is seen in less than 1% of all children born with heart defects.

The baby can lead a normal life and will not require any further surgical treatment” said Dr Devananda. The treatment was done at a subsidized cost at the hospital and was supported by the Needy Heart Foundation.