The G. Kuppuswamy Naidu Memorial Hospital (GKNM) recently performed its first heart transplant surgery on a 32-year old successfully.

Talking to media persons today, Dr. P. Chandrasekar, Director, Heart Transplant Programme said the patient was suffering from a complex congenital heart ailment.

“He had undergone a Glenn operation at our hospital in 1999. But over the last few years he started developing symptoms of heart failure. He was bedridden for a long time and his health did not permit him to take up a job. Now, post surgery, he is doing well,” Dr. Chandrasekar said.

The hospital received the heart of a brain dead engineer, that matched well with that of the patient, “Our patient has been on the waiting list for close to one year. After matching various parameters, we decided to go ahead with the heart transplant process. The heart from the other hospital reached us within 20 minutes of removal. Once implanted, it has started beating normally,” he added.