News Desk, News Nation 360 : The largest private hospital chain in Eastern India Medica Superspecialty Hospital, achieved a momentous feat through Bengal’s and Eastern India’s first successful lung transplant surgery performed on Swapnil Biswas, a 16-year-old patient who suffered from respiratory distress due to accidental paraquat ingestion. The very high case fatality of paraquat is due to inherent toxicity and lack of effective treatments. The operation took place at the hospital on the night of June 24th, under the guidance of Dr Kunal Sarkar, Senior Vice Chairman & Senior Consultant of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Medica Institute of Cardiac Sciences (MICS) and Dr Dipanjan Chatterjee, Director ECMO and Thoracic Organ transplant program, Physician, Head Cardiopulmonary Care Specialist Medica Superspecialty Hospital along with the entire team comprising of Dr Soumyajit Ghosh, Dr Saptarshi Roy, Dr M.B. Das, Dr Tangyanika Koley, Dr Hirak Majumdar, Dr Writuparna Das, Dr Saibal Tripathi, and Deblal Pandit. 16-year-old Swapnil Biswas from Barasat, West Bengal, was initially admitted to a local hospital on 27th April after accidentally ingesting paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide. After being discharged on 4th May, he experienced shortness of breath on 14th May, prompting his admission to Medica Superspecialty Hospital. His respiratory distress continued to worsen, leading to intubation on 18th May. Due to refractory hypoxia, he was placed on venovenous ECMO support on the same day. A chest CT scan revealed extensive lung consolidation with fibrotic changes, indicating severe damage to Swapnil’s lungs. Given the severity of his condition and lack of improvement despite venovenous ECMO support for 37 days, the medical team made the critical decision to pursue a lung transplant as the only viable option to save his life. For the lung transplant, the hospital issued a nationwide request for a matching organ and ROTTO (East) took immediate action. They played a proactive role in the organ allocation process. On 23rd June, Medica Superspecialty Hospital received a notification from ROTTO and NOTTO that in Bhubaneshwar's SUM Ultimate Hospital, a 41-year-old patient Shri Prasenjit Mohanty had been declared brain-dead and was a suitable candidate for lung donation. Without wasting any time, the lung retrieval team from Medica Superspecialty Hospital swiftly travelled to Bhubaneshwar on 23rd June to retrieve the organ, ensuring its safe and prompt arrival back at the hospital on 24th June. At present, Swapnil is in a stable condition following the lung transplant. The ECMO support has been discontinued, and he is gradually being weaned off ventilatory support. The medical team is closely monitoring his progress and providing the necessary care to ensure a smooth recovery. According to Dr Kunar Sarkar, against all odds, this life-saving lung transplant was the ultimate beacon of hope for our 16-year-old patient from Barasat. Given his critical condition and unresponsiveness to ECMO, it emerged as the sole viable option. They are thrilled to share that the procedure was a success, and the patient is now out of danger, embarking on a remarkable recovery journey.