MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Surgeons at J. W. Ruby Memorial Hospital have completed the first dual organ transplant in the state. Nark Kumaravelan, 48, of Fairmont, received a new heart and kidney from an unnamed donor this week.
Doctor Vinay Badhwar leads the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute and was the key surgeon for the heart transplant portion of the surgery.
“He’s doing very well over all. He’s in great spirits,” Dr. Badhwar said on MetroNews Talkline,” He’s not requiring oxygen, his kidney is working lovely and in fact he couldn’t be better right now.”
“I’m so grateful to the transplant team at WVU Medicine for their amazing work, and I’m most grateful to the donor and the donor’s family,” Kumaravelan said. “I know my life is being extended through the generosity and kindness of that person; I’ll honor that gift each and every day through my own acts of kindness.”
“Once he gets recovered, which he’s doing great from, he can expect to live a normal life,” Dr. Lynsey Biondi, lead surgeon for the kidney transplant said,” With the exception that he’ll be taking medicines everyday.”
WVU Medicine received approval to establish a multi-organ transplant center late last year and according to Dr. Badhwar, there will be more in the future.
“This is just opening the door to many more developments to come in the aspect of providing transplantation services to our citizens,” Dr. Badhwar said.
“Our commitment to West Virginia is to continue to expand complex services such as this to ensure West Virginians across the state have quick and easy access to the most advanced specialty care,” Albert L. Wright, Jr, president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System, said. “We want every West Virginian to know we are here for them and ready to provide them the most complex care they might need.”
The two surgeries took nine-and-a-half hours to complete, first the kidney transplant, then the heart transplant procedure after a brief stay in intensive care. At least nine doctors played a role in the surgery and many more helped Kumaravelan prepare.
“Transplant is the ultimate team sport, as Dr. Badhwar said,” Dr. Biondi said,” There are so many people involved in the planning and logistics, It takes a team of people willing to say yes, and that’s what we have at WVU.”
The dual transplant capability is allows patients to get complete care that enhances their chances at making a full recovery.
“If the kidneys are failing and after a heart transplant what we don’t want to do is be in a situation where we have to go on dialysis because it does complicate the long term care,” Dr. Badhwar said,” This is the best of both worlds.”