Wadia hospital to start paediatric heart transplant programme

Mumbai: A dearth of specialists, affordable healthcare and infrastructure in the country continues to pose immense challenges to children with congenital heart disease. In order to address this urgently, the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children in Parel is set to start a heart transplant programme.

Currently, the children’s hospital has a liver and kidney transplant programme. While Fortis Hospital in the city has a dedicated paediatric heart transplant team, Wadia Hospital’s heart transplant programme will be a boon to patients who cannot obtain essential health services.

Dr Minnie Bondhanwala, CEO, Wadia Hospital said, “We have infrastructure and a team. We will be applying for the heart transplant licence.” The hospital already has a licence for liver and kidney transplants.

The cost of heart transplant surgery at a private hospital is close to ₹25 lakh. A heart transplant is seen as a last resort for end-stage heart disease patients. The right match proves to be a challenge for young patients. Doctors said an affordable paediatric transplant programme will help deal with one of the many challenges a paediatric heart transplant programme face.

“The biggest lacunae remain on awareness of organ donation in Maharashtra as compared to south or Gujarat. Other challenges like arranging finance for the transplant or post-transplant medication can still be worked out,” said Dr Swati Garekar, a paediatric cardiologist from Fortis Hospital- Mulund.

She added that there is still not much awareness among people that a heart transplant is an option for end-stage heart failure. The number of children who need a donor’s heart is more than what we actually see on the list.

Dr Supratim Sen, paediatric cardiologist at NH SRCC Hospital in Haji Ali said they advise 2-3 patients in a year for a heart transplant who are generally referred to Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bengaluru.

Dr Sen said continuing follow-ups and immunosuppressive medicines post-transplant play a vital role in paediatric heart transplants. “Transplant is not the end of the journey. Cardiac biopsies at regular intervals have to be undertaken to check for rejection. In a paediatric case, the transplanted heart works for 10-15 years. That’s the biggest challenge is the timeline after which the child will require another transplant,” he said.

Dr Sen also added that the other challenge that remains is getting a donor’s heart. “A 15kg child can be given the heart of a donor weighing 20-25 kg but not more. An adult heart cannot be transplanted in a child. Most of the donor pool is from accident cases. We do not see paediatric donations much,” he said.

Embed: Mumbai’s first paediatric heart transplant patient passes away.

The city saw its first paediatric heart transplant on a seven-year-old girl from Goregaon, at Fortis Hospital, Mulund in January 2016. The girl passed away a few months back after she stopped immunosuppressant-also called anti-rejection drugs- and her body rejected the transplanted heart. The immunosuppressant drugs are to be taken lifelong to avoid rejection of the transplanted organ. Doctors say non-compliance with heart transplant medicines and immunosuppressant drugs remains a big issue amongst teens apart from awareness of heart transplant and cadaver organ donation.