Second heart transplant for engineer in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: In a heartwarming tale, a Bengaluru-based engineer had a second heart transplant.
The heart-retransplant surgery marks the first in the state and second in the country, claim doctors at Aster CMI Hospital in Bengaluru, where he underwent the surgery.
Venkatesh, who is originally from Andhra Pradesh was just 24, when he underwent a heart transplant the first time.He had dilated cardiomyopathy and severe heart dysfunction, which resulted in irreversible damage to his heart. Seven years later, he fell sick again. He had to undergo a second transplant in Dec 2023, because of narrowing of arteries in his transplanted heart.
“The first transplant failed because of a disease of the blood vessels. It is one of the common causes of transplant failure,” says Dr Nagamalesh UM, lead consultant and interventional cardiologist, Aster CMI Hospital, Bengaluru.
The retransplant was quite challenging. “Removal of his old transplanted heart took five to six hours. He had complications in the groin area post operation,” he said. Venkatesh said he didn’t face any complications in the last six months.
What makes his story more interesting is that his childhood sweetheart, Rupa stood by him during difficult times and married him, even after he was diagnosed with the heart disease. Rupa said: “My parents tried their best to talk me out of getting married to someone with heart problems, but I didn’t step back. Finally, we got married in 2018,” she said.
The couple has a daughter.