Delhi doctors restart blood circulation after death for organ donation, first in Asia

Doctors at a Delhi hospital have successfully restarted the blood circulation of a 55-year-old woman after her death to enable organ donation, marking a pioneering achievement in Asia, officials said on Saturday. The procedure, conducted at HCMCT Manipal Hospital in Dwarka, is the first of its kind in Asia, where blood circulation was restarted post-mortem to retrieve organs.

Geeta Chawla, who had been bedridden and paralysed due to Motor Neuron Disease, was brought to the hospital on November 5 with severe breathing difficulties. As her condition worsened, the family decided not to place her on life support. She passed away at 8:43 PM on November 6.

Honouring her wish to donate her organs, the medical team performed a rare and complex procedure known as Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP). Using an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator (ECMO), the doctors successfully restarted blood circulation in her abdominal organs, even after her heart had stopped and she had been declared dead five minutes after a flat ECG line.

''This is the first time in Asia that circulation was restarted post-death to preserve organs for donation,'' said Dr Shrikanth Srinivasan, Chairman, Manipal Institute of Critical Care Medicine.

''Organ donation in India usually follows brain death, when the heart is still beating. In donation after circulatory death (DCD), the heart has stopped, so time is critical. By using NRP, we were able to keep the liver and kidneys alive long enough for safe retrieval and allocation,'' he added.

Following the procedure, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) allotted the organs for immediate transplantation.

Chawla's liver was transplanted into a 48-year-old man at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), while her kidneys were given to two other male recipients, aged 63 and 58, at Max Hospital, Saket. Her corneas and skin were also donated, benefiting multiple patients.

Dr (Col) Avnish Seth VSM, Chairman of Manipal Institute of Gastroenterology & Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Sciences and Country Head of Manipal Organ Sharing & Transplant (MOST), emphasised, ''India was the eighth highest in the world for organ donations after brain death in 2024, with 1,128 donors.'' ''However, we need to expand organ donations after circulatory death. This first NRP in Asia demonstrates that it is now possible in India to keep abdominal organs alive post-death — and eventually, even the heart and lungs,'' Dr Seth said.