Masina Heart Institute created history by performing a successful heart transplant on a nine-year-old girl who was suffering from Heart Failure due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy. This surgery was conducted by a team of doctors, led by Dr. Zainulabedin Hamdulay and Dr. Vishal Pingle on 25 May 2022. A critical 5-hour long surgery, the young patient made a complete recovery and was put off ventilator on day 2. The baby girl was discharged from the Masina Heart Institute on day 10.

Masina Heart Institute, a cardiac unit of Masina Hospital, is a renowned tertiary care multispecialty hospital in Mumbai that is known for its progressive medical treatments and cures. In this most recent case, a nine-year-old girl suffering from breathlessness for over a year, who required multiple admissions for breathing difficulty and loss of consciousness.

Further investigations revealed severe Heart dysfunction with Dilated Cardiomyopathy suspecting post COVID-19 infection as a primary cause, as her COVID-19 antibodies IgG and IgM were found to be positive.

As her condition deteriorated, she was advised a heart transplant and listed on the National List from Masina Heart Institute under the guidance of Dr. Zainulabedin Hamdulay. She got a suitable donor after a wait of six months, of a brain dead patient from Vadodara.

Speaking about the surgery, Dr. Zainulabedin Hamdulay - Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, said, “With excellent team work, the excruciating five hours of surgery, followed by post-operative management in our intensive care unit we could manage to achieve successful outcome for this young patient. Many kids who have heart transplants live a normal, healthy life once they recover from surgery.”

“In addition to it, I want to thank the family of the donor for saving the life of this young girl. It was certainly a very human and respectable act of theirs to donate the heart of their beloved daughter, to save another life, setting an example in the chapters of time.” he further added.

Dr. Vishal Pingle – Heart & Lung Transplant Surgeon said “Lung infection post COVID-19 is very well known. Clinicians should be aware of the COVID-19 related myocarditis and assess the patients for these complications as well so that we can identify and treat Heart Failure in its early stages.”