CMC Vellore is pleased to announce that its first heart transplant patient – a man in his late 30s who received a new heart on the 24th of July – was discharged last Wednesday, the 19th August, following nearly three weeks of closely monitored post-transplant care and rehabilitation. The donor heart was that of a patient in CMC’s own Neurotrauma ICU, who had sustained severe brain injury following a road traffic accident.

The successful transplant, the culmination of years of institutional commitment, preparation, and teamwork, marked a significant milestone in CMC’s long-standing efforts to strengthen advanced cardiac and transplant care. It was achieved through a culture of multidisciplinary collaboration across the institution, built over several decades.

A new lease of life

The patient who first came to CMC in January of this year had been troubled by breathlessness for a couple of months. He was found to have had a major heart attack that had most likely gone unnoticed. His heart was functioning at only 14.5%, and despite treatment, the patient continued to have severe symptoms and repeated hospital admissions. With limited treatment options remaining, heart transplantation was discussed with him and his family, and consent was obtained. Less than a week after he was listed on the Tamil Nadu organ sharing website as a potential heart-transplant recipient, our transplant team was informed of the potential donor.

Successful transplantation and recovery

Following completion of all medical and legal formalities, at 6:00 am on the morning of the 24th of July, the donor heart was explanted, retrieved and transported to the Cardiothoracic operating theatre, where the recipient was prepared for transplantation. The heart was successfully implanted, and the team was delighted to see it begin beating as soon as blood supply was restored.

The patient was taken off ventilatory support the following day and subsequently progressed steadily, moving from the ICU to a step-down facility within a week. He has since undergone immunosuppression titration, rejection surveillance, cardiac rehabilitation, and physiotherapy as per transplant protocols.

Multi-disciplinary co-ordination

Heart transplantation is widely regarded as the gold standard in the treatment of end-stage heart failure, for appropriately selected patients. It is a surgical procedure where heart surgeons remove a severely diseased heart not capable of sustaining the life of a patient (recipient) and implant a new heart donated by the family of a deceased individual (donor) after medical and legal procedures have confirmed brain death in this individual.

It is among the most highly specialised procedures in medicine and is performed by a limited number of centres in India. Though survival rates and functional status following a heart transplant are excellent today compared to a few years ago, its success, post ideal patient and donor selection, depends not only on surgical expertise, but also on meticulous coordination across numerous medical, nursing, technical and support services.

The transplant at CMC was made possible through the collaboration of the medical, nursing and technical teams from Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Cardiac Anaesthesia, Cardiac Imaging, Electrophysiology, Nephrology, Clinical Pharmacology, Pathology, Cardiothoracic ICU, Neurotrauma ICU, Transfusion Medicine and Blood Bank, HLA Laboratory, Infectious Diseases, Physiotherapy, Perfusion Medicine and other technical support services.

The journey towards establishing the programme

The Departments of Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery had shared the goal of establishing a heart-transplant programme since the early 2000s. A dedicated Advanced Heart Failure Clinic was started in 2025, for identifying, evaluating and managing patients with advanced heart failure and considering them for advanced therapies, including transplantation.

A major turning point was the facilitation of specialised training in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation among the faculty as well as the establishment and development of the CMC Vellore Ranipet Campus, enabling the Departments of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Cardiology to function in a state-of-the-art facility with ready access to the supporting departments, infrastructure and specialised teams required for transplantation. The CMC administration also facilitated the construction of a HEPA-filtered cubicle in the Cardiothoracic ICU, specifically designed to support the care of heart and lung transplant recipients.

As CMC continues to strengthen its advanced cardiac-care capabilities, the establishment of a heart-transplant programme represents an important new chapter.

The institution acknowledges with gratitude the donor and the donor family, whose selfless decision to donate organs made this life-saving transplant possible as well as the recipient and his family for reposing their trust in us.