In a first-of-its-kind achievement in India, Narayana Health successfully performed three heart transplants within just 12 hours at its flagship Narayana Health City in Bengaluru. This remarkable feat by the hospital’s cardiac team marks a major milestone in the country, saving three young lives through consecutive back-to-back surgeries. It also highlights the advanced capabilities of Narayana Health’s Heart Failure and Transplant Programme, one of the largest in India offering comprehensive care to patients.
The recipients—men in their mid-30s—had been waiting for more than a year for suitable donor hearts and had reached a critical stage where increasing lung pressure could soon have disqualified them from transplantation.
Donor hearts were retrieved from Sparsh Hospital, Yelahanka; Aster CMI Hospital, Hebbal; and Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road. They were transported to Narayana Health City through well-coordinated logistics and green corridors. The effort brought together a multidisciplinary team of heart failure cardiologists, transplant surgeons, anesthesiologists, perfusionists, transplant coordinators, and critical-care specialists, all working in perfect synchrony.
This seamless coordination was supported by Jeevan Sarthakathe (SOTTO – State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation), which played a crucial role in facilitating timely organ allocation and transport across the city.
“This milestone underscores not only the medical excellence of our transplant team but also the critical role of public support, timely coordination, and the noble decision of donor families. These three transplants within 12 hours reaffirm the importance of organ donation in saving lives,” said Varun Shetty, Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences (Narayana Health).“Narayana Health’s Heart Failure and Transplant Programme is one of the largest in the country, providing comprehensive care in advanced heart failure and transplants,” he further added.
Narayana Health’s Heart Failure and Transplant Programme is among the largest in India, offering advanced heart failure care, ECMO, and ventricular assist device support.
All three transplant surgeries were successful, and the patients are currently stable and recovering well under close monitoring.
This life-saving achievement was made possible by the generosity of the three donors, whose families made the courageous choice to donate organs. Their selfless act gave three families a second chance at life and serves as a powerful reminder of the life-changing impact of organ donation.