Kerala man lives with two beating hearts after rare transplant

The transplant was done on a beating heart using the direct pulmonary artery anastomosis technique Doctors at a Coimbatore hospital connected the new heart to the old so that they could share the load The four-hour long surgery was the the first such procedure in India and possibly Asia The patient received the heart of a female donor, which was smaller and fitted perfectly in the cavity

A 45-year-old man from Kerala now lives with two beating hearts after a hospital in Coimbatore successfully performed a rare heteroptic heart transplant.

The transplant was done on a beating heart using the direct pulmonary artery anastomosis technique on May 30 at the Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital (KMCH), confirmed Dr Prasanth Vaijyanath, the hospital's consultant cardio-thoracic surgeon.

The man had to undergo the procedure because of high lung pressure, which did not enable him to undergo a normal heart transplant. So instead of having his old heart being replaced with a new one, doctors connected the new heart to the old so that they could share the load. Interestingly, the donor was a woman.

The four-hour long surgery was the the first such procedure in India and possibly Asia. Terming it as a "hard and demanding surgery," Vaijyanath said the patient's own heart (native heart) was only 10 per cent operative. 

"It was destiny that the patient received the heart of a female donor, which was smaller in size and was a perfect fit in the cavity. The operation was also genetically fascinating because, now the man will not only have the XY chromosome that all men have, but also will have the XX chromosome of a woman within him," Vaijyanath said.

Explaining the functioning of the two hearts, the doctor said, "There are five connections between the two hearts. Two connections are meant to take in the pure blood while three are to take the impure blood out. The two connections placed between the left atriums of the two hearts is what makes sure that blood can be shared. Connecting them with the beating heart was the hardest task and that made this operation very challenging." 

Stating that the weight, blood group and age of the donor was similar to that of the recipient, Vaijyanath said that such details are often compared and analysed before any heart transplant is done.

(with agency inputs)