Indian man has two hearts beating at the same time
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Doctors connected a smaller heart to the man’s, known only as Suresh, old one
- The surgery, conducted in Coimbatore, India, was ‘hard and demanding’
- Suresh’s old heart only has 10% function and sits next to his transplanted organ
- The two hearts are working together to provide the same function of one organ
Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline
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A transplant survivor has two hearts beating in his chest at the same time.
The patient, known only as Suresh, 45, was suffering from heart failure but his high lung pressure meant he was too weak to have a traditional single transplant without the new organ failing.
Doctors therefore transplanted a smaller female heart into his chest cavity and connected it to the old one in a procedure known as heterotopic heart transplantation.
Suresh now has two hearts beating in tandem after what is thought to be the first operation of its kind in Asia.
Speaking after the operation in Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, Coimbatore, India, doctors said the surgery was ‘hard and demanding.’
Scroll down for video
Suresh (left), 45, with his doctor Dr Prasanth Vaijyanath, has two hearts beating in his chest
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WHAT IS A HETEROTROPIC HEART TRANSPLANTATION?
Heterotropic heart transplants leave the patient’s existing organ in place.
Doctors then connect the donor heart to the right side of the patient’s chest.
The original heart acts an ‘assistant’ if complications occur.
Doctors may carry out this sort of a transplant if removing the old heart and replacing it with a new one would cause the transplant to fail due to high lung pressure.
It is also known as ‘piggyback transplantation’.
Patient survival rate is around 10 years.
Source: Transplantliving.org
Dr Prasanth Vaijyanath said: ‘It was destiny that the patient received the heart from a female donor as it fit perfectly in the cavity, being smaller in size.
‘The operation was also genetically fascinating because now the man will not only have the XY chromosome that all men have, but also will have the XX chromosome heart.
‘There are five connections between the two hearts.
‘Two connections are meant to take in the pure blood while three are to take the impure blood while three are to take the impure blood out.
He said: ‘The two connections placed between the left atriums of the two hearts ensures that blood can be shared.
‘Connecting them with the beating heart was the hardest task and that made this operation very challenging.’
His original heart only has 10 per cent function and sits next to the new one.
The healthy donor heart is working with the old one so the two can successfully carry out their functions as one, according to Dr Vajyanath.
Grab shows two hearts beating. Suresh’s high lung pressure prevented a single transplant
The operation is thought to be the first of its kind in Asia and was described as ‘demanding’
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