New lease of life for Diya; KIMS performs successful first-ever heart transplant surgery

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Diya, the ten-year-old girl from Kollam, successfully underwent her first heart transplant surgery at KIMS Health. This is also the first heart transplant surgery to be performed at a private hospital in South Kerala. The heart of a 36-year-old man who was declared brain dead while undergoing treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital gave a new life to Diya, who was suffering from a congenital heart defect.

Diya was born with 'restrictive cardiomyopathy', a condition limiting the heart’s capacity to pump blood to other parts of the body. This condition will also see high pressure in the lungs. After being treated at KIMS, an examination conducted by Dr Soumya Ramanan, Senior Consultant, Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, determined a heart transplant as the last option. After the three-and-a-half-hour complex surgery, Diya was kept in the intensive care unit for two weeks. She was discharged after her health improved. Diya can now get back with her studies, reading and drawing.

KIMS's multi-organ transplant program, which has been conducting various organ transplants such as liver, kidney, pancreas for years, is crossing a new milestone, said Chairman and Managing Director Dr M.I. Sahadulla at a press conference. A second heart transplant has also been performed at KIMS. The person who underwent this is under observation. Both heart transplants were performed free of cost. Since expensive medicines are required, the cost of a heart transplant in the private sector ranges from Rs 25 to 30 lakhs.

Multi-Organ Transplant Director Dr Praveen Muraleedharan, Heart Transplant Department Senior Consultant Dr Shaji Panangadan, Cardiac Transplant Surgeon Dr V. Soumyaramanan, KIMS Health Co-Founder E.M. Najeeb, and Diya's mother Aswathy attended the press conference.