Triple Heart Transplants Performed in 12 Hours at Narayana Health, Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Narayana Health achieved a rare accomplishment by successfully performing three heart transplants within 12 hours at its flagship Narayana Health City, Bengaluru. The Cardiac team carried out back-to-back surgeries, saving three young lives in a single day.

This achievement highlights the advanced expertise of Narayana Health’s heart failure and transplant program, one of the largest in the country, providing comprehensive care for patients. The recipients, all men in their mid-30s, had been waiting for over a year for suitable donors. They had reached a critical stage where rising lung pressure could soon make them ineligible for transplantation.

Donor hearts were retrieved from Sparsh Hospital, Yelahanka; Aster CMI Hospital, Hebbal; and Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road, and transported to Narayana Health’s flagship Narayana Health City through meticulously coordinated logistics and green corridors.

The simultaneous effort brought together a multidisciplinary team of heart failure cardiologists, transplant surgeons, anesthesiologists, perfusionists, transplant coordinators, and critical-care specialists – all working in perfect synchrony.

This unparalleled coordination was also made possible by the crucial support and facilitation provided by Jeevan Sarthakathe (SOTTO – State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation), which played a key role in enabling timely organ allocation and transportation across the city.

“This underscores not only the medical excellence of our transplant team but also the critical role of public support, timely coordination, and the noble decision of donor families. These three transplants within 12 hours reaffirm the importance of organ donation in saving lives,” said Dr Varun Shetty, Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences (Narayana Health).

“Narayana Health’s Heart Failure and Transplant Programme is one of the largest in the country, providing comprehensive care in advanced heart failure and transplants.”, he further added.

Narayana Health’s Heart Failure and Transplant Programme is one of the largest in the country, providing comprehensive care in advanced heart failure, ECMO, and ventricular assist technologies.

The transplant surgeries were successful, and all three patients have responded positively to the transplants. They are currently stable and recovering well under close monitoring.

The life-saving procedures were made possible by the generosity of the three donors, whose families made the courageous decision to donate organs. Their selfless act gave a second chance at life to three families and serves as a powerful reminder of the impact of organ donation.