Mumbai’s first pancreas transplant gives woman with juvenile diabetes new lease of life

May 31, 2019June 6, 2019 Ask4healthcare 0 Comments Brain dead, First pancreas transplant, Jupiter Hospital, Juvenile diabetes, Kidney-pancreas transplant, Mumbai, Pancreas transplant

Mumbai’s first pancreas transplant was recently done on a woman with juvenile diabetes. The woman received the organ from a 16-year-old boy, who was declared brain dead following an accident. The father of the boy agreed to donate the latter’s organs. The boy, who had been awaiting his SSC results, saved the lives of seven patients.

The transplant took place at Jupiter Hospital in Thane. Dr Vidya Kadam of the hospital said, “It was a simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplant for the woman suffering with juvenile diabetes for over 16 years.” The state’s first kidney-pancreas transplant was done in Pune’s Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in November 2016.

“The transplant has been a success and the woman’s sugar levels are in the normal range,” the doctors told. The simultaneous transplants took more than three hours. Although pancreas transplant is routinely offered in the West, it is not common in India.

The 16-year-old organ donor met with an accident in Panvel when he was riding pillion on a relative’s bike to attend a wedding. The bike was hit by a four-wheeler and the boy was thrown across its bonnet. He was first taken to a local hospital before being shifted to MGM Hospital in Vashi where he was declared brain dead. “The family was devastated, but agreed to donate as many organs as possible after a few rounds of counseling,” said MGM Hospital’s spokesperson.

Two more cadaveric organ donations have been witnessed by the city recently and both took place at Jupiter Hospital. In the first case, a 48-year-old man’s family donated his organs after he met with an accident in Bhiwandi. In the second one, a woman’s family proactively sought to donate her organs after she was declared brain dead after suffering a brain hemorrhage. “Her family moved her from a local hospital to Jupiter Hospital, which is a transplant centre, to facilitate the organ donation,” an official told.

“We are happy with the rate of organ donation in Mumbai,” Dr S. Mathur of Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre said. “There has been an increase in heart and lung transplants in recent times,” he added.

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