ABU DHABI // Two teenage Emirati brothers are recovering in an Indian hospital after heart transplants.
Hamad and Mohammed Al Yahyaee were referred to Gleneagles Global Health City Hospital in Chennai with extreme cases of left ventricular failure, preventing their hearts from pumping enough blood.
The boys’ family has a history of such problems – they lost a sibling to heart failure.
When the older of the two, 18-year-old Hamad, suddenly experienced liver shock caused by a shortage in blood and oxygen, he was flown to Chennai.
The first challenge was stabilising him before preparing him for the transplant, said Dr Attawar Sandeep, chairman of cardiac surgery at Gleneagles.
Dr Sandeep said his medical team “sprang into action”.
“The elder brother needed an immediate transplant,” the hospital said.
Mohammed, 15, was referred to the same hospital after doctors found the same problem.
“Things worked out in Hamad and Mohammed’s favour and we were able to do successful transplants on both, thanks to two Indian donors,” Dr Sandeep said.
In India, citizens have priority over foreign patients for organ transplants under federal law.
Only when there is no domestic recipient can the organ pass to an international recipient – and that is based on a waiting list, patient seniority and severity of the disease.
Patients can wait between two weeks and two months before receiving an organ.
Typically, heart transplant surgery can last between five and seven hours and recovery generally takes about three weeks, the hospital said.
After being discharged, patients often remain in India for at least 12 weeks to be monitored by medical staff.
“Rigorous and intense post-op follow up is an integral part of the transplant process,” said Dr Sandeep.
“It could be broken down in parts, like immune suppression dose monitoring biopsies to monitor rejection, rehabilitation and exercise, physiotherapy, dietary modification and education of patient caregivers and families.”
India’s proximity to the GCC and the lower cost of medical care have helped to attract a growing number of patients from the UAE.
“We are receiving a growing number of patients from the UAE and Oman, which has naturally brought us in contact with hospitals, physicians and health systems in these countries,” said Renu Malik Vij, associate vice president of international business at Gleneagles Global Hospitals.
Heart transplants at the hospital cost between US$60,000 – or Dh220,338 – and $75,000.
The boys are recovering in India and are expected to return home to Abu Dhabi after Ramadan.
In the UAE, the National Organ Transplant Committee is developing a system to allow residents to register as donors using their Emirates ID card. The Government also recently legalised the use of organs from deceased donors.
Last month, the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi performed its first kidney transplant from a live donor and is preparing to become part of the new national programme.
The first and only kidney transplant from a deceased donor in the UAE was performed in 2013 at Seha’s Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. The kidney came from a Saudi donor to a 23-year-old woman from Abu Dhabi.
In 2015, a 21-year-old Emirati man became the first patient in the UAE to receive an artificial heart after a successful surgery at Sharjah’s Al Qassimi Hospital.
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