Jharkhand School Education and Literacy Minister Jagarnath Mahto, who underwent a lung transplant surgery in Chennai after getting infected by Covid-19 virus, is likely to get discharged and return home either by the end of this year or in early January if he continues to recover at the same pace, doctors from the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Healthcare in the Tamil Nadu capital said on Sunday.
“All his organs are functioning fine. He is conscious and breathing naturally with the transplanted lungs,” said the Co-director of Institute of Heart and Lung Transplantation & Mechanical Circulatory Assist Device at MGM, Dr. Suresh Rao. “If he continues to recover at the same pace, then we should be able to send him home by the end of this year or early next year,” Rao added.
The 53-year-old Minister, doctors said, has been recovering fast since the surgery and breathing naturally with the surgically-transplanted lungs. He has been conscious since the next day of the surgery and has not needed the help of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a life support system he was put on earlier.
Mahto underwent a lung transplant surgery on November 10 at the healthcare facility in Chennai after being kept on a life support system for 22 days. Doctors on Tuesday said that he was still put on ventilation only to assist in natural breathing.
Doctors from the hospital said that Mahto’s lung transplant surgery has cost the Jharkhand government around Rs.30 lakh and his treatment altogether will cost roughly Rs.80 lakh. However, there was no official confirmation on the amount quoted by the hospital for the minister’s.
Dr. Rao said that Mahto could have been discharged in two weeks had he not been infected by the Covid-19 virus. Covid patients, who undergo lung transplant, were at a higher risk of developing infection in the lungs and therefore they needed to be kept under obs
ervation for a longer period, Rao added.
“We have to ensure that the transplanted organ doesn’t get infected, so we have to keep
him (Mahto) under observation,” said Rao.
The minister, Rao said, has become weak due to the prolonged illness and was made to undergo physiotherapy regularly in a bid to strengthen his muscles. He was also practicing basic breathing exercises, Rao added.
Mahto, a JMM legislator from Dumri Assembly constituency, tested positive for Covid-19 on September 28 and was admitted to state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi. He was shifted to the ICU of Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital in the state capital on October 1 and put on non-invasive ventilation. The minister was flown to Chennai on October 19 after his lungs showed no signs of improvement and was put on life support.
