Soon, SSKM to Get Clearance to Conduct Heart, Lung Transplants

SSKM Hospital may soon get clearance from the state Health department to conduct heart and lung transplants. The hospital authorities have already built adequate infrastructure in this regard. If everything goes according to plan, the SSKM will get the nod from the Health department in the next few months. A senior official of the hospital said: “We have so far witnessed heart transplants at a government hospital but the idea of lung transplant is not only new in the city but also in the entire Eastern region. Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) is the only government-run hospital in the state that has obtained clearance from the department to perform heart transplants. CMCH has already conducted two heart transplants. But no government hospital has the permission to perform lung transplants. “Necessary infrastructure is being built at the hospital in this regard. A lung transplant is at a very early stage in the country. Some acute COPD patients often need to undergo lung transplants.

Children with Cystic fibrosis also require the same,” a senior official of the SSKM Hospital said. SSKM had applied for clearance in August 2018. It has also submitted a detailed project report to Swasthya Bhawan before Puja this year. A survey was carried out in this regard considering various aspects. As a part of infrastructure revamp, a heart failure clinic has also been operating at the Cardiology department of the hospital since last year. The doctors at the cardiology department of the hospital would examine and treat heart failure patients at the clinic. A senior official said the doctors would try to cure heart-related problems of the patients through medicines but those who would require heart transplants would be referred to the same unit that is to come up at the Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department of the hospital. – Millennium Post