Doctors in Kochi perform heart transplant on 48-year-old Malappuram native

Doctors at Aster Medcity here successfully performed a heart transplant on Monday, giving a new lease of life to a 48-year-old man from Malappuram.

The procedure involved transplanting a heart harvested from a 23-year-old man from Kannur who was declared brain-dead on May 31, 2026, following a road accident. The heart was airlifted from Aster MIMS, Kannur, on Monday morning.

A communication issued by the hospital said that the donor’s parents consented to the donation of four organs. While the heart was transported to Aster Medcity, the liver was accepted by Baby Memorial Hospital, Kozhikode, and the kidneys were allocated to Aster MIMS, Kozhikode, and Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode. This was the first heart transplant performed at Aster Medcity, the communication said.

The 48-year-old recipient was admitted to the hospital in critical condition following a massive anterior wall myocardial infarction and subsequent angioplasty. He was in severe cardiogenic shock and required multiple blood pressure support medications and an intra-aortic balloon pump for cardiac stabilisation. According to the communication, a heart transplant was his only hope of survival.

Dr. Dilip Panicker, chief of medical services at Aster Medcity, said that the transplant surgery and perioperative care were carried out by a multidisciplinary team of specialists.