Chennai: Despite the challenges posed during these Covid-19 times, MGM Healthcare, a multi-specialty quaternary care hospital in the the city, became the third hospital in the world to announce the successful completion of a critical bilateral lung transplant on a Covid-19 positive patient.
According to the hospital, this is Asia’s first known lung transplant on a Covid-19 positive patient and the second lung transplant in the hospital since the lockdown began.
The transplant was led by Dr K R Balakrishnan, chairman and director of cardiac sciences and director of the heart and lung transplant program at MGM Healthcare, and his team of transplant specialists including Dr Suresh Rao, Dr Srinath and Dr Apar Jindal.
The transplant was performed on a 48-year-old man from Delhi, who was suffering from severe lung infection with Covid-19. His lungs were severely damaged due to coronavirus related fibrosis. He was airlifted to MGM Healthcare from Ghaziabad on 20 July.