Right now, our only method of true replacement-medicine is organ transplantation. In the future, we’ll reach that stage when custom-made organs and body parts are possible. That is the next BIG thing.
As the famous detective said, “My name is Sherlock Holmes, it is my business to know what other people do not know.” A transplant coordinator has to do the same in order to prevent organ trading.
“Is she going to make it doctor”? These are the words of a grieving father whose 12 year old daughter met with life threatening accident. The family had arrived in Chandigarh justa few hours before to visit their relatives.
My perfectly healthy strapping young son is suddenly told that he has cancer. A Bone Marrow Transplant could have helped. But as a country, we aren’t doing what it takes to get one.
Transplantation of Hands and Faces is not life-saving. Hands and faces are highly visible parts of the body, and closely related to the identity of the individual. This makes their transplantation difficult.
A team of doctors from Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Kochi achieve a rare feat of the first successful double hand transplant in the nation and any developing country till date. Watch their story.
The hopes of performing India’s first hand transplant looked bleak as several brain-dead patient’s relatives had turned down our request. “Take everything else,” they had said. “Not the hands.” We had become resigned to the fact that we may never do a hand transplant.
Meet Muktesh Chander. The man who created Green Corridors in North India, to facilitate smooth and timely transportation of organs in a non-stop thoroughfare - no mean achievement in a chaotic and apathetic city like Delhi.
The Armed Forces Organ Retrieval & Transplantation Authority (AORTA), is a success for many reasons. Convincing relatives is little easier because of inherent feeling of camaraderie, and the ready availability of aircraft courtesy the Indian Airforce has seen organs flown in from across the country to various army hospitals.
Dr. Saudan Singh is the Director, National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), the apex centre for all-India activities of coordination and networking for procurement and distribution of Organs and Tissues. He spoke to ORGAN India on NOTTO’s future plans.
