An elderly man who claims to be the first live liver donor in Asia, and who already had six stents in his heart, recently underwent successful high-risk bypass surgery conducted by a team of doctors led by renowned heart surgeon Dr Prateek Bhatnagar, Director, Cardiac Surgery at a private hospital in Hyderabad.

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The man, a resident of Maharashtra, is 71 years old now and he donated the left lobe of his liver to his brother back in 1998. After donating a part of his liver, the man led a very normal life. He later on somehow developed a heart condition and his heart was stented in 2000, 2005 and 2011 and since then everything got back to normal. This year, he was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad after the doctors found blockage of arteries in the heart through the angiography report. "I had donated left lobe of my liver to my elder brother back in 1998 and thus I became the first person in Asia to do so. After liver transplantation, I developed some cholesterol leading to heart conditions. I was operated thrice on my heart, in 2000, 2005 and in 2011, leaving me with 6 stents in my heart at various places," the man told ANI.

"Then after that in this year, 2020 I underwent an angiography diagnosis and the report showed multiple blockages near the stents and I was soon asked to get admitted in the hospital by Dr. Prateek Bhatnagar. And on October 1, 2020, I successfully underwent a high-risk heart surgery by Dr. Prateek Bhatnagar," he added.

The man was put in ICU (Intensive care unit) for 5 to 6 days and then was moved to a separate room in the hospital. Dr Bhatnagar said that the man developed blockages in the heart a couple of years after donating live liver in 1998, for which stents were inserted. "Recently, it was found two of his arteries were significantly blocked. For which, I performed beating heart surgery on October 1. We followed the heart surgery technique' in which the surgery is conducted without stopping the heartbeat or by mechanizing the supply of blood to the body organs by machines during surgery. Due to this kind of surgery, we allow a 'pulsatile' blood flow to the vital body organs," Dr Bhatnagar said.

"And in this case, since the patients have donated his liver in the past, it would be very helpful for them. After the surgery was successful, we conducted tests on his liver to ensure its proper functioning. After 2 to 3 days of surgery, The man started to walk and he is back to normal again," said the doctor. Dr. Prateek added that people like the man must be an inspiration for the people who come forward for body parts donation. The doctor also said that after liver donation, if the donor has developed some heart condition, then they can be surgically treated by experienced doctors.