Chennai: The Fortis Center for heart failure & transplant has successfully completed over 54 heart-transplants, 12 long-term LVAD’s and 45 Veno arterial ECMO’s for critical heart failure. The center is also credited with India’s first successful implantation of Heartmate II LVAD and HVAD mechanical artificial heart pumps and has been the first, to successfully use ECMO to resuscitate patients from cardiac arrest and subsequently implant a long term LVAD or do a heart transplant. The Centre has also undertaken numerous inter-state heart retrievals for transplantation and has also performed the largest number of Paediatric heart transplants in the country, including one on a tiny infant of 2 years weighing just 6 Kg. The current transplant outcomes are excellent with a one year survival rate of over 90 % in such critically ill patients.

Expressing his deep appreciation for Fortis Malar at having accomplished this momentous feat, Bhavdeep Singh, CEO, Fortis Healthcare, said, “This is truly a great milestone. Our teams of highly accomplished doctors have done pioneering work in the field and have excelled in their endeavor to treat complex heart ailments having performed the largest number of successful heart transplants not only in the country, but in all of Asia. Thanks to their efforts Fortis Malar today is regarded as a landmark institution for cardiac care that is recognized far beyond Indian shores. I commend the entire team for their dedication and passion and we look forward to see them reach greater heights in the future.”

Hailing the stupendous team effort, Dr. K R Balakrishnan, Director, Cardiac Sciences, Fortis Centre for Heart Failure and Transplant, at Fortis Malar, said, “Chennai has seen a tremendous growth in transplants with the support of a diverse group of committed people including Organ Donors and their families, the Organ Registry committee, the Airport Authority of India, The Chennai Police who have changed the face of Organ Transport forever with the ‘Green Corridor’ and the Clinical excellence from Fortis Malar Hospital. Over the years, Chennai has also fine-tuned the crucial logistics necessary for successful heart transplantation resulting in excellent clinical outcomes. We are currently the leaders in heart transplantation in the entire country and in Asia. The majority of patients who can benefit from our advanced therapy are still not aware of the facilities available right here in India. Our goal therefore is to provide the highest quality of patient-centered care so that many more patients can benefit from the interdisciplinary approach, enormous talent and the multi-skilled resources within our team”, said

“Heart Failure is one of the most prevalent conditions globally, and there are about 2 million new cases in India alone every year with at least a third of them requiring advanced therapy to survive. Shockingly, 30-40% of them succumb within a year of diagnosis due to non-availability of appropriate care at the right time. With copious and wide ranging experience in handling heart failure patients, we continue to explore new frontiers and extend the limits of Cardiac Care as we establish this facility as one of the biggest stand-alone Cardiac institutions in the world. We are also amongst the few hospitals in the country that offer specialised treatment in the field of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Heart Transplant and Electrophysiology”, said Dr. Suresh Rao K. G, Chief of Cardiac Anesthesia and Critical Care at Fortis Malar.

Tamil Nadu has become the leading State for organ transplants in the country with its model being hailed as the best. The awareness about organ donation is quite high in Tamil Nadu and the statistics have been consistently high for the State over the last few years. As per the experts, though India’s population stands at 1.2 billion, only 0.08 percent of the people give consent to donate their organs. In the West, 10-20 percent of the population were ready donors. Infrastructure has now improved and there is dramatic improvement in organ donation which still needs a major push.

Successful heart transplants are a growing phenomenon in the country. Chennai alone has conducted 90% of successful procedures.