Mumbai, September 3: A 38-year-old heart transplant patient at Mumbai's civic-run KEM Hospital in Parel died just four days after the surgery. Mahesh Padav became the first patient in the hospital's history to die following such a procedure. Doctors have not yet determined the cause of his sudden death.
Padav, a resident of Sambhajinagar, passed away at a hospital near his home. His brother-in-law, Vijay Rane, said, "He suddenly developed a fever on August 21 and passed away within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital."
Doctors suspect the cause of death could be related to an adverse reaction to medication or a rejection of the transplanted heart. Padav, a rickshaw driver, was the father of two daughters aged 13 and 11. The family had recently celebrated one month since his heart transplant. "It was too sudden, and we are still coming to terms with it," said a relative.
Padav was admitted to the hospital for over a month before undergoing the transplant. On July 11, a brain-dead patient's family agreed to donate her heart. The KEM cardiac surgery team, which had been preparing to revive the hospital's heart transplant programme, performed the procedure on July 12. Padav was kept in the hospital for 21 days as a precaution against infections and was discharged on August 1 after a good recovery. However, on August 21, he developed a high fever and did not recover.