In a remarkable medical feat, a team of experts at AIIMS Bhubaneswar successfully revived a 24-year-old man whose heart had stopped beating for nearly 90 minutes, marking a significant milestone in Odisha’s medical history. The life-saving intervention, known as Extracorporeal CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (eCPR), was employed after conventional CPR failed to restore the patient’s cardiac activity, doctors revealed on Monday.
The young man, who had been suffering from severe heart failure, was referred to AIIMS Bhubaneswar on October 1 for treatment. Upon his arrival, he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Despite an immediate attempt at conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for over 40 minutes, the medical team was unable to revive him. As time passed and the patient’s heart failed to respond, the doctors were confronted with a difficult decision: to declare him deceased or to try a pioneering procedure that had shown promise in critical cases like his.
Dr. Ashutosh Biswas, a senior doctor at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, explained, “Despite all efforts with traditional CPR, there was no cardiac activity, and it was a critical moment. We had to decide whether to give up or attempt the eCPR procedure, which was a cutting-edge intervention.”
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The medical team, led by Dr. Srikant Behera, an intensivist and ECMO specialist, chose to proceed with eCPR. This complex procedure involves the use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) — a machine that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs, allowing the organs to rest and heal. The team connected the young patient to the ECMO machine, which immediately began oxygenating his blood and pumping it throughout his body.
After around 80 minutes of ECMO support, the patient’s heart miraculously began to beat again, though initially with an irregular rhythm. The team closely monitored his condition as they continued ECMO support for several more hours. Over the next 30 hours, the patient’s heart function gradually improved. After 96 hours of ECMO support, the young man was successfully weaned off the machine, and his heart was functioning on its own once more.
Dr. Biswas shared that this successful outcome was not only a testament to the advanced medical technology but also to the teamwork and expertise of the doctors involved. “It was a race against time, and we are thrilled that the procedure worked. The patient’s recovery was nothing short of extraordinary,” he said.
The patient’s mother, deeply overwhelmed with gratitude, expressed her profound thanks to the medical team. “I cannot thank AIIMS Bhubaneswar enough for giving my son a second chance at life. Their skill, compassion, and determination have worked a miracle for our family,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion.
The successful use of eCPR at AIIMS Bhubaneswar represents a significant advancement in the region’s medical capabilities. eCPR is still a relatively new procedure in India, and its successful application in this case highlights the growing potential of life-saving interventions available to patients in critical cardiac conditions.
AIIMS Bhubaneswar’s achievement not only brings hope to patients in Odisha but also showcases the growing expertise of medical institutions in the state, as they continue to adopt and implement cutting-edge technologies to save lives.
This case marks a milestone in the history of heart failure treatment in Odisha, bringing much-needed attention to the potential of ECMO and eCPR in saving lives that were once considered lost. As doctors continue to push the boundaries of medical innovation, the future of heart failure treatment looks brighter than ever.
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