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Chennai hospital carries out lung transplant on 4-yr-old Russian, one of Asia’s youngest

The boy was living with fibrosing alveolitis, a lung disorder that results in chronic and progressive scarring of the lung tissue, which results in decline of lung function.

A four-year-old from Russia has become one of Asia’s youngest recipients of a bilateral lung transplant procedure at MGM Healthcare, a multi-speciality quaternary care hospital in Chennai. Nazar Dianov, who was diagnosed with fibrosing alveolitis, at the age of two months, underwent the procedure on December 15, 2020. A 20-member team under the leadership of Dr KR Balakrishnan, Chairman and Director of Cardiac Sciences, and Director of the Heart and Lung Transplant Program, MGM Healthcare, arried out the procedure.  

Fibrosing alveolitis, which is a lung disorder the causes of which are unknown, results in chronic and progressive scarring of the lung tissue, which results in decline of lung function. After being diagnosed with it, Nazar was put on ventilator as his oxygen saturation levels were very low. At the age of six months, he underwent a tracheostomy procedure in Russia, and then was airlifted to MGM Healthcare in Chennai in 2018. A possible lung transplant was referred by the doctors in Russia.

Dr Suresh Rao KG, Co-Director of Heart and Lung Transplantation Programme and Mechanical Circulatory Support, MGM Healthcare said, “He was kept on ventilator for three years in Chennai as we tried to find a suitable donor organ for him. A two-year-old braindead donor became available in December 2020 in Surat, Gujarat, and the organ was airlifted.”

After Nazar underwent the complex transplant procedure, he was kept under observation in ICU care. “This is one of the longest durations for a small child to be kept on ventilator before undergoing a successful transplant in the world. He is the youngest lung transplant recipient in India and one of the youngest in Asia,” Dr Suresh said. “Interestingly, the nurses have learnt to speak a few words of Russian and the boy understands common words in Tamil!” Dr Balakrishnan added.

Nazar’s parents thanked the clinical team for giving their son a new lease of life. “We would like to extend our gratitude to the nursing team for their diligent service during these testing times for us and to Trastan and NOTTO and the donor family for this extremely generous gift,” they said.

Nazar is presently off ventilator and on minimal oxygen support. His recovery is going well and he is taking physiotherapy and rehabilitation. Doctors say he will be able to lead a normal life in the future.  

Source: The News Minute