Youngest Organ Donor saves life of Two-Year-Old

Its a proud moment for the Chennai, where doctors performed a successful heart-transplant surgery on a two-year-old boy, whose organ donor was also a two-year-old child. This two-year-old donor is the country’s youngest organ donor.

According to News18 reports, doctors in Fortis Malar Hospital in Chennai performed a heart transplant surgery to save the life of a two-year-old boy from Villupuram. The child was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy with severe LV dysfunction, and faced repeated bouts of breathlessness. Despite medication, his condition didn't improve, and a heart transplant was the only solution for him to recover. He was then registered in the State Transplant Registry for a possible donated heart.

Media reports further state that, the organ donor, who is also a two-year-old boy, had suffered brain damage on February 10th and he hailed from Mumbai. After the family got to know about the irreversible brain damage of their child they decided to donate the organs that helped save and enrich the lives of six people. Out of six, four recipients were children including, the two-year-old from Villupuram.

A team of doctors flew from Fortis Malar Hospital to retrieve the heart from Mumbai, which was airlifted to Chennai later.

Commenting on the transplant, Dr K R Balakrishnan said, “This surgery was difficult and challenging as the recipient was a two-year-old toddler. So we had to sensitively balance all the challenges to perform the transplant to the child. We are humbled to acknowledge that this surgery is another milestone in the treatment of pediatric cardiac patients requiring heart transplants.”