A number of months in the past, Raja Sivagurunathan stated it took him half an hour to stroll 10 steps, and he could be breathless your complete time. After being admitted within the hospital for seven months and present process a bilateral lung transplant, at the moment, the 59-year-old is again on his toes.
Mr. Sivagurunathan was one in every of a bunch of transplant recipients who had undergone coronary heart and lung transplants at Apollo Hospitals Chennai, a few of whom spoke at a press meet held on Thursday.
Underneath the programme, greater than 600 coronary heart and lung transplants have been carried out, over 2,000 transplant sufferers managed, and over 1,000 ECMO circumstances dealt with. Kumud Kumar Dhital, head, coronary heart and lung transplantation on the hospital, stated the programme was now set to be expanded nationally. He stated this marked a re-evolution of the two-decade programme, by making it in a hub and spoke mannequin for hospitals throughout the group’s community.
He additionally pointed to the core commitments of the programme, which included administration of sufferers throughout the hospital and post-discharge.
Srinivasa Rajagopala, senior advisor and medical lead, pulmonology, sleep drugs and lung transplants on the hospital, spoke of the massive unmet demand in India: whereas about 8,000 coronary heart and 10,000 lung transplants are wanted annually, solely about 250 are carried out within the nation.
He pointed to the necessity for the acceleration of transplant programmes, of consciousness amongst sufferers and physicians for early referrals to make sure higher outcomes, and for extra data among the many public.
Ilankumaran Kaliamoorthy, CEO, Chennai area, Apollo Hospitals, moderated a panel dialogue between Dr. Dhital and Dr. Rajagopala.
Revealed – January 23, 2026 03:28 am IST
