Mumbai: KEM’s first heart transplant patient in 56 years passes away

Mahesh Pandav and his family at KEM hospital

In a twist following a historic medical milestone, the first recipient of a heart transplant at Parel's King Edward Memorial Hospital in 56 years has died. The patient, Mahesh Pandav, 40, is believed to have succumbed to an infection contracted shortly after being discharged to his home in Aurangabad.

Mahesh, whose transplant was performed on July 12, survived for 40 days post-surgery - 20 of those in the hospital and the remainder at home. He was declared dead on August 22 and is survived by his wife, Swati, and their two daughters. "Staying in the hospital for such a long time was becoming a little annoying for him. He wanted to be home, and the hospital had also provided him with discharge.

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Now, I feel we should have stayed at the hospital or they should have told us to stay, but we are very grateful to KEM. His transplant was done at a very low cost, and the doctors stayed in touch with us," Swati said. She added, "He was fairly healthy at home and had even put on weight, which was a sign of recovery. But then he developed a fever."

Dr Balaji Aironi, associate professor at KEM's Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Department, said the hospital was in contact with the family after discharge and had spoken with the doctors at the hospital where Mahesh passed. "The patient was alright for 15 days after, and then he developed intermittent fever, for which he was treated. Soon after that, he had sudden cardiac arrest, which can happen in transplant patients due to rejection," he explained.

Dr Balaji added that Mahesh likely caught a secondary infection because he was on chemotherapy, standard immunosuppressive medicines, for transplant patients after the procedure. "This puts them at a higher risk of developing viral infections. At the time, there were a lot of cases of H1N1 (swine flu) in Aurangabad," he said.

"None of us expected it; it was shocking and sad. It would have been ideal if he had stayed here for a longer duration, but he was an outstation patient, and it is very expensive for families to stay for a longer time," Dr Aironi noted.

There are two more patients on the list for heart transplants at KEM. When asked about the future of heart transplants at the hospital, Dr Aironi said, "We will have to keep patients in the hospital in isolation rooms for more days. But even then, we never know how post-transplant outcomes can be."