MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Surgeons at Ruby Memorial Hospital have completed the first dual organ transplant in the state history.
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 said Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline” that Kumaravelan is doing well and is in good spirits.
“He’s not requiring oxygen, his kidney is working lovely and in fact he couldn’t be better right now,” Badhwar said.
“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 in a news release. “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.”
The lead surgeon on the kidney transplant part of the operation was Dr. Lynsey Biondi. He said Wednesday on “Talkline” that Kumaravelan can look forward to a normal life.
“With the exception that he’ll be taking medicines every day,” Biondi said.
.@BadhwarVinay and Lynsey Biondi, Surgical Director of Kidney Transplant, speak with @HoppyKercheval about first-ever successful dual-organ transplant in West https://t.co/OfUSlDGbSE: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/URyyydUqqM
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) November 25, 2020
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,” 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,” WVU Health System President Albert Wright said in a news release. “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,” 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,” Badhwar said. “This is the best of both worlds.”