Fortis Hospital Mohali performs region’s first ABO incompatible living donor and deceased donor transplants

Chandigarh, August 29, 2024: In a ground-breaking medical advancement, Fortis Hospital Mohali successfully performed its first-ever deceased donor and an ABO incompatible Living Donor Transplant in the northern region. These achievements mark new milestones for the hospital, further establishing it as a leader in transplant surgeries in northern India.

In the first case, the Fortis team successfully transplanted a liver from the donor wife to her husband despite a blood group mismatch. In the second case, the family of a brain-dead patient donated his liver and kidneys to two recipients with successful outcomes.

The Organ Transplant team, comprising Dr Jai Dev Wig, Dr Milind Mandwar, Dr Sunil Kumar, Dr Sahil Rally, Dr Arvind Sahni, Dr. Anna Gupta, Dr Amit Nagpal, Dr Swati Gupta and Dr Jasmeet performed the transplants, and all the recipients were discharged with perfectly functioning organs.

Harjeet Singh, aged 49, was suffering from liver failure. His wife volunteered as a liver donor, but there was a blood group mismatch between the two (A+ and B+). As there was no blood group compatible donor in the family, an ABO incompatible Liver Transplant was done. This transplant is the only option in the absence of compatible blood group donors. It is a technically challenging procedure and involves additional treatment modalities to make the transplant successful. To overcome the blood group barrier, antibodies from the recipient’s blood are removed (plasmapheresis) and additional drugs are given that block rejection causing antibodies and cells. Both Harjeet Singh and his wife recovered well and were discharged on the 10th and the 4th postoperative days, respectively.

The deceased donor, 70-year-old Inderjit Singh from Chandigarh was admitted at Fortis Hospital Mohali with brain haemorrhage. Despite the best efforts, he did not recover and was declared brain dead. The medical team counselled the family and the possibilities of organ donation was discussed with them. In their hour of grief, the family displayed immense courage and chose to give the “Gift of Life” to 4 terminally ill patients, including two corneas which were sent to PGIMER, Chandigarh. Their selfless act saved the life of a 64-year-old male patient from Shimla, who received a liver transplant. A dual kidney transplant was performed on the same day on a 64-year-old patient from Mullana, who had kidney failure.

Lauding the efforts of the families, Dr Vikramjit Singh, Medical Director, Fortis Mohali, said, “This event marks a significant achievement for Fortis Mohali, which has already established itself as the first private healthcare facility north of Delhi-NCR to become a Centre of Excellence for Living as well as Deceased Donor Liver Transplants. We are grateful to the families for displaying selflessness and courage in their moments of grief. Their kind gesture saved the lives of 3 patients. Fortis Hospital Mohali is the first-of-its-kind hospital in Punjab to carry out deceased as well as complex living donor liver transplants.”