Delhi Doctors Restart Blood Flow After Death for Organ Donation, Asia's First
Delhi Doctors Restart Blood Flow After Death for Organ Donation, Asia's First
Historic breakthrough in Delhi as doctors restart circulation after death to preserve organs for donation, enabling rapid transplants.
In a first for Asia, Delhi doctors restarted blood circulation after death to preserve organs for transplantation. At HCMCT Manipal Hospital in Dwarka, a 55-year-old woman, Geeta Chawla, was declared dead after respiratory distress. After death, a team placed her on an ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenator (ECMO) to restart circulation and keep organs viable. The procedure, Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP), allowed abdominal organs to stay alive for transplantation while the patient was moved to the operating theatre.
The hospital stated that the revived circulation enabled the retrieval of a liver and kidneys, and that corneas and skin were donated as well. The liver was transplanted to a 48-year-old man at ILBS, while the kidneys went to two men, aged 63 and 58, at Max Hospital, Saket.
If confirmed by NOTTO and transplant teams, the case would mark Asia's first use of this approach in a donation-after-circulatory-death scenario, expanding the window for organ allocation and potentially saving multiple lives.
