In a press conference that was held in March 2021, doctors at KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital in Belagavi, Karnataka spoke about the second successful heart transplant that was performed there on 26th February 2021. The first heart transplant was performed in February 2018. This time around a 17-year-old boy got a second life through a 52-year-old brain dead man whose heart he received. The boy was operated on by Chief Cardiac Surgeon, Dr. Richard Saldanha and his team. Dr. Saldanha told the media that the boy was diagnosed with ‘dilated cardiomyopathy’ (a condition where the heart muscles weaken and stop pumping blood) and he was advised to register in Jeevasarthakathe, the Government of Karnataka transplant authority’s heart transplant waitlist.

The matching heart was procured from Kolhapur as the brain-dead donor’s relatives agreed to altruistically donate their beloved one’s heart after counselling by Dr. VeereshManvi, Dr. Kothiwale and their team. The seven-hour surgery was performed by Dr. Saldanha, Dr. Mohan Gan, Dr. Kiran Kurkure, Dr. Ravi Ghatnatti, and Dr. Praveen Tambrallimath.  The boy’s recovery was good. The transplanted heart was functioning normally and there was no evidence of infection or rejection.