The team of doctors at Apollo Children’s Hospital successfully saved a five-month-old baby by performing a high-risk procedure. The parents brought the baby to Apollo Children’s Hospital when she suddenly developed breathlessness. Dr CS Muthukumaran and Dr Anuradha Sridhar, Senior Interventional Paediatric Cardiologists, confirmed that the baby was suffering from Left Atrial Appendage Aneurysm, a rare condition. The surgical team consisting of Dr Neville Solomon, Dr Musthafa Janeel Moosa and Dr V Swaminathan took the baby up for an open heart surgery. The surgery went uneventfully, and the aneurysm was closed off and excised. Read more about how the high-risk procedure was performed by Apollo Children’s Hospital        

The Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC), the first Proton Therapy Centre in South Asia and The Middle East, has been accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), the recognized global leader in health care accreditation. This makes Apollo Proton Cancer Centre, Chennai, India’s first dedicated advanced cancer centre to receive this international accreditation, and the 8th hospital in the Apollo Hospitals Group to join the portfolio of JCI accredited hospitals. Read more about JCI accreditation of Apollo Proton Cancer Center

TAVR or Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, a minimally invasive surgical procedure, was successfully performed on a 93-year-old patient at Apollo Hospitals, Indore despite numerous challenges due to the lockdown. The nonagenarian with severe breathlessness and inability to lie down was airlifted to Indore, where he was diagnosed with a critical condition of severe stenosis of the aortic valve. The only alternative was a valve replacement that had to be carried out immediately. Open-heart valve replacement surgery was not an option due to age and co-existing health issues including history of bypass surgery, angioplasty, and renal dysfunction. The patient was offered the advanced option of TAVR or Transformative Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), an advanced minimally invasive technique that allows surgery on patients who are considered as unsuitable or high-risk for open-heart surgery. The advanced procedure was successfully performed on 17th June 2020. The patient recovered well and was out of bed in just 4 hours after surgery, ready to be discharged the next day. Dr. K Roshan Rao, Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals, Indore said, “Patients with calcification of the leaflets of the heart valve, that open and close with the flow of blood, often present with symptoms only after the age of 70-75 years. At this age, a majority are not suitable for open-heart surgery. However, if not treated, survival is difficult. TAVR is a revolutionary technique and a blessing for such patients so that they can have a prolonged healthy lifestyle with improved quality of life. Whereas in conventional open heart surgery, the chest cavity needs to be opened by cutting through the sternum to allow the surgeon to operate on the heart, TAVR is a minimally invasive surgical technique where inner organs are accessed via needle-puncture of the skin, rather than a scalpel.” In TAVR, a miniaturized valve is inserted through a catheter, a thin flexible tube, from the groin into a blood vessel under local anaesthesia. The deployed valve reaches the base of the aorta at the site of the aortic valve. The doctor then opens a balloon that inflates the valve pushing aside the old valve and overcoming the stenosis or narrowing. Using MAC anaesthesia or monitored anaesthesia care, the patient is aware but relaxed throughout the procedure that takes about an hour as compared to 5-6 hours required for an open-heart surgery. There is no need of general anaesthesia, a midline sternal incision, which was required in open heart surgery, thereby reducing prolonged hospitalization, and instead of a week’s stay, a patient who has undergone TAVR, goes back home walking on the third day. The other benefits of TAVR include reduced and negligible need for blood transfusions, and reduced stroke risk of less than 1% as against 5-7% in conventional open-heart surgery. Dr. Sarita Yadav Rao, Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals, Indore said, “We are proud of having pulled off this feat at a time when the nation was in a lockdown to fight the COVID pandemic. Reports suggest over 5 lakh elective surgeries were postponed across the country. However, in this case, we could not afford to wait for the lockdown to end, as any delay could have worsened the patient’s condition and could have been fatal. The team of doctors included the medical and surgical teams and also experts in infection prevention and control to ensure that all measures for the safety of the patient were taken, and the procedure took place with precautions including the highest Standards of Excellence in Infection Control Protocols and Best Practices. It was a testament to the efforts of the entire team that the procedure was performed with 100% success.” The other members of the team at Apollo Hospitals, Indore included Dr. Shirish Agarwal, Jr. Consultant/ Associate Consultant Cardiologist, Dr. Vikas Gupta, Senior Consultant, Anaesthesia and Dr. Kshitij Dubey, Senior Consultant, CTVS. Dr. Hari Prasad, President, Apollo Hospitals said, “TAVR and other advanced procedures are all set to change the face of cardiac care in India. The benefits when compared to conventional open heart surgery are incomparable. These advanced minimally invasive procedures allow us give a second lease of life to many patients who were previously classified as too high risk or inoperable. Apollo Hospitals is constantly striving to bring the latest advanced therapies for patients in India. Our trained experts with years of experience in cardiac care use scientific evidence based approaches, precision techniques, cutting-edge devices and medical equipment to overcome any medical challenges. On the anvil are newer structural interventions including Mitral clip, trans-catheter mitral, tricuspid and pulmonary interventions which would allow many patients who cannot undergo surgery, to benefit from minimally invasive therapies, giving them new hope and an improved quality of life.” He added, “That this procedure was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic is testament to our teams’commitment to deliver world-class healthcare in the face of any and all challenges. We are proud that even amidst the COVID pandemic and lockout, we have continued to deliver lifesaving healthcare with proper precautions and protocols in place.”

Amidst the COVID-19 situation, a rare liver auto-transplantation surgery was successfully performed at Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore. The patient, a 46-year-old mother of two from Kolkata, had a malignant tumour in her liver which was inoperable due to the tumour’s location and that made conventional surgery risky. Dr. Sanjay Govil, Consultant – Gastrointestinal Surgery, Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, Liver Transplantation at Apollo Hospitals Bangalore performed the complex surgical procedure that involved removing the liver, cutting out the cancerous tumour and re-implanting the liver back into the patient. The successful completion of the liver auto-transplant makes Apollo Hospitals one of only few hospitals in the world to have successfully performed this procedure. The patient, Mrs. Srijitha visited Apollo Hospitals with complaint of severe stomach pain for past few months that had worsened with the patient falling unconscious multiple times on the same day. Tests revealed a malignant tumour in her liver that would require to be resected or cut out. However, while not large, the tumour’s hard-to-reach location that involved several small and large blood vessels in close vicinity made a conventional approach and surgery risky and with uncertain success. Dr Sanjay Govil, Consultant – Gastrointestinal Surgery, Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, Liver Transplantation said, “A radical resection or cutting out of the tumour or liver transplantation is the best treatment for patients with advanced hepatic cancer. The advantage of a liver auto-transplant is that it eliminates the need for a donor liver or any immunosuppressive therapy after the surgery. In this patient’s case, we had an additional challenge of the tumour being difficult to reach, so it was decided to go in for an auto-transplant.” “An eight-hour long surgery involved removing the liver, resecting the tumour from the liver outside the patient’s body and transplanting the healthy liver without the tumour back into the patient. Extensive experienced teamwork is required for the technical challenges during surgery as well as the pre and postoperative management. The patient’s husband expressed his happiness on the successful surgery, “I started looking for the best treatment option & meet lot of doctors in Kolkata, and I found out that very few surgeons in India are capable of performing this surgery. Few of my reference led me to Dr Sanjay Govil in Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore. I had immediately made the travel arrangements after taking an appointment. I am glad we made the trip as my wife now has got a new lease of life.” The patient began oral feeding the day after surgery and made an uneventful recovery. She was discharged on 15th June 2020. Back at the hospital during her weekly check-up, a smiling Mrs. Srijitha said, “Within five minutes of interacting with Dr. Govil, I knew he was my surgeon. I could put my complete trust and faith in him. We are thankful to the doctors and the team at Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore for their timely intervention to get my life back on track again. I can’t wait to go back to Kolkata and meet my family!”

Amidst the COVID-19 situation, Apollo Proton Cancer Center successfully treated an eight-year-old from Singapore who was diagnosed with a Grade IV medulloblastoma. The patient underwent surgery to remove the tumour but it was complemented with irradiation and chemotherapy so that  tumour recurrence could be avoided, said Dr. Rakesh Jalali, Medical Director of Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC), Chennai. Read more about how Apollo Proton Cancer Center treated Grade IV tumour, medulloblastoma

The team of doctors at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals performed a complicated liver transplant surgery on a 10-month-old, Baby Noor from Malaysia. Baby Noor, soon after birth had developed jaundice that advanced with time and was further diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver and bile disease which has a ratio of 1:12000 in infants worldwide. In addition to this, Noor also had heterotaxy, an abnormal arrangement of the internal thoracic-abdominal organs across the left-right axis of the body. Her liver and stomach were in the middle of the abdomen and her heart was in the middle of the chest. At about 2 months of age, Baby Noor underwent a Kasai surgery that connects the under surface of liver directly to the intestines to achieve biliary drainage. She also underwent abdominal surgery to correct intestinal malrotation. However, both the surgeries were unsuccessful. According to Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals Group and Senior Paediatric Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, “If Kasai surgery fails to clear jaundice, then the only treatment is a liver transplant. Noor fell into this category of failed Kasai and developed progressive liver failure leading to severe jaundice, a bloated belly with ascites, growth failure, bleeding episodes due to liver dysfunction and increased pressure in the veins supplying her hardened liver. She was hospitalised in Kuala Lumpur multiple times, and once during her treatment she suffered a massive gastro-intestinal bleed in February, leading to a near death like situation. Initially her transfer to India was cancelled as she was on ventilator but since it was a very high-risk case requiring immediate surgery, she was referred to us.” According to Dr Neerav Goyal, Senior Consultant and Head, Apollo Liver Transplant, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Unit, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, “The day after the family landed in Delhi, an advisory was issued by the Government of India to quarantine all travellers from Malaysia for a minimum of two weeks. It was an ethical dilemma for the team of doctors and nurses, as we were not hopeful that Baby Noor could survive so long without immediate treatment. The team acted quickly and put the family in quarantine, for a period of two weeks post which the liver transplant was planned.” “Meanwhile Baby Noor developed a rhythm disturbance with a very slow heart rate while awaiting a transplant. She immediately required a temporary pacemaker. Post the quarantine period, after testing for SARS-COV- 2 which was negative and taking all precautions including PPE, she underwent a living related liver transplant on 31st March 2020. The donor was her mother. At the time of the transplant, Noor had a bilirubin level of about 45 mg/dl as against a normal of less than one. Her weight was only 6.5 kg at the age of 9 months.” Said, Dr Smita Malhotra, Consultant, Paediatric Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist, Apollo Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals Delhi. “Starting with the first successful liver transplantation in India in 1998, the Apollo Liver Transplant Program has now performed more than 3500 liver transplants including 361 in children. “Because of heterotaxy, low weight, precarious overall condition due to pronounced liver failure and the heart condition, this liver transplant was very high-risk procedure. Our extensive experience in liver transplantation helped us conduct an uneventful Liver transplant in a very complicated situation,” added, Dr. Sibal. We value the trust our patients. We have performed the most complicated of liver transplants (e.g., in babies weighing as less as 4 kilograms), combined liver–kidney transplants and multi-organ transplants,” Said Dr. Goyal. Baby Noor is doing well now and her vital stats are under control. The Liver transplant was done under the expert supervision of Dr. Anupam Sibal, Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals Group and Senior Paediatric Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist and his team comprising Dr Neerav Goyal, Dr Smita Malhotra, Dr Vikas Kohli, Dr V Arun Kumar, Dr Sanjeev Kumar Aneja. Baby Noor smiled beautifully at the staff and the sparkle in the eyes of the parents hides all the torment they have been through. She has now been discharged and awaits her return to Malaysia.

Bharti Airtel has collaborated with Apollo 24|7, the digital business unit of The Apollo Hospitals Group to support India’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The partnership aims to bring together Airtel’s Pan-India network reach and Apollo Hospital’s digital healthcare platform – Apollo 24|7 to raise awareness and break the chain of spread of COVID-19. Apollo 24|7 has launched a free digital self-assessment test on Airtel Thanks app to enable its customers to check their COVID-19 risk profile. The test, which has been developed by Apollo 24|7, uses artificial intelligence-based technologies to allow users to assess their COVID-19 risk profile by answering a few simple questions. Based on the user responses, the digital tool generates a risk score and suggests the next best action including online consults on Apollo 24|7 free, dialing COVID non-prescriptive helpline from the app itself, self-care tips, social distancing guidelines and other important prevention steps as suggested by WHO and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Apollo 24|7 free COVID helpline has over 100 Apollo expert doctors answering questions and clearing doubts of all those who are taking the scan. These initiatives are designed to help Airtel customers alleviate any anxieties or doubts relating to COVID-19 and ensuring that the country at large, stays safe. Ms. Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice Chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Group said, “With the free COVID-19 scan AI tool, Airtel customers across India will get validated data and Apollo’s resources to take care of their health, well-being and safety.” Mr. Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India and South Asia) Bharti Airtel said, “These are unprecedented times and we are working hard with our partners such as Apollo 24|7 to leverage digital technologies to help the nation. Airtel Thanks platform reaches millions of people in India and we hope this innovative tool can provide a sense of urgency around the need for social distancing to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19. Airtel remains fully committed to serving the nation in this difficult hour and support the efforts of the Government.” Through a deeper integration, the tool also allows users to also check the COVID-19 risk profile of their region through an India wide COVID-19 heat map grading regions from high to low risk based on aggregated responses from these locations. This enables users to be more aware of the evolution of the situation within the country, and be more adept at maintaining social distancing to break the COVID-19 chain.

To ensure affordable, safe rooms overnight and clean environments, Apollo Hospitals has joined forces with Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, Deutsche Bank, Oyo Rooms, Lemon Tree, Ginger hotels and Zomato to launch a social impact initiative on isolation care called “Project Stay I” (Stay Isolated). The Apollo Hospitals Group took forward its comprehensive response plan to COVID-19, Project Kavach, which was announced on March 26 2020. Isolation is an important part of the break the chain of transmission strategy. Project Stay I is an innovative initiative to strengthen the bulwark against COVID-19 by creating isolation rooms in hotels with light medical supervision for quarantine and creating a barrier to ensure people recover without spreading the virus, and or be supervised so they can move to medical care at the right time. These isolation rooms have been rolled out at Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi, starting with approximately 500 in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, going up by 50 rooms every three days, to reach an eventual target of 5000 rooms across the country. The ramp up in the number of rooms will be calibrated as per the need. And cities will be added based on government requests, support of local healthcare providers and support for CSR. Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “The steps taken by the Government of India in screening, testing and keeping high risk individuals in state quarantine facilities to prevent the extensive spread of the disease is indeed commendable. However, with increase in the scale and scope of testing, the number of positive cases are expected to increase. A significant number of these individuals will be positive but asymptomatic. There will also be a rise in the number of individuals requiring to be quarantined due to contact with COVID-19 patients. This will put a huge load on the government facilities for quarantine. This is the time for the private sector to step up to the challenge to aid, augment, and support our Government. Our attempt is just a small showcase model. Others can replicate. We are happy to share our technology backbone which is facilitating this model”. She added, “Many families in India have 4-5 members and most of them share the same facilities and toilets, this fails the purpose of self-isolation if one the family members is at high risk of COVID-19. Especially since the virus is as asymptomatic for the first week. Project Stay I will not only reduce the load on the healthcare system by creating clean, comfortable isolation and quarantine facilities for individuals who have no need for active medical intervention but also provide a solution to such families.

Apollo Hospitals Group has announced a new initiative – Project Kavach (shield) – a comprehensive and integrated response plan and approach to protect people across the nation from the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan encompasses all aspects from information, preventive measures, online self-assessment for risk, testing, isolation/quarantine rooms, treatment and hospital beds, and ICU facilities for critically ill patients. ‘Never been seen in the last 100 years’ Making the announcement at a virtual press conference, Founder and Chairman Dr. Prathap C Reddy said: “The pandemic we are seeing now has never been seen before in the last 100 years. The Apollo Hospital Group has been leveraging its experience of the last 30 years and its protocols for the safety of patients and health personnel to face the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19. The Apollo family has come together with their expertise and commitment to face the challenge and tackle the pandemic successfully”. He also mentioned that they would work with the Government and use the Group’s technology and Artificial Intelligence to reassure people, through sample collection facility at their homes, testing clinics and in-patient service. Fighting for generations “We are fighting a war not just for this generation but also for the generations to come. The pandemic knows no borders, makes no distinction between religion, caste creed or social status. It will require all of us to come together to break the chain,” Dr. Reddy said. “Project Kavach is the Group’s pledge and will augment the Government’s initiatives to address the COVID-19 pandemic. All other private hospitals are also doing their best,” he said. Ms. Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said they designed an AI-based coronavirus Risk Assessment and it is available in the form of an App and on the website to guide individuals about the potential risk through simple interactive questions. Based on the risk people are guided to contact the certified Help centre. Tele-consultation She said over 8.5 million people across 30 countries had already gone through screening on the Apollo 24×7 app and website, and it is expected that over 10 million Indians will use the scan to know their risk score. The group also offers virtual and tele-consultation with all doctors at Apollo Hospitals to enable people seek healthcare from home. All the 3,800 Apollo Pharmacy outlets across 18 States will serve people with medicines, consumables. Stocks have been doubled, prices are being monitored strictly, and home delivery capability has been enhanced to even serve 10 lakh people if needed. Ms. Sangita Reddy, MD of the Group, said that most Apollo Centres have been cleared for COVID-19 testing. There are provisions for home collection of samples and drive through testing in accordance with government guidelines for testing. Dedicated fever clinics were being set up to screen people and those who qualify for tests would pay the government recommended charges. 5,000 rooms across the country With more screening, more positive cases may come up and the Group has launched isolation rooms in the vicinity of Apollo Hospitals with medical supervision for quarantine. This would address the situation where over 50 per cent of cases would need only isolation and medication. The isolation rooms under Project Stay-I are available in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi and have started with 50 each and going up by 50 rooms every three days to reach a target of 5,000 rooms across the country. Ms. Suneeta Reddy, MD, said over 250 hospital beds were kept aside for COVID-19 patients and it could be ramped up to 500 if needed. The group has 1,000 ventilators and enough of them could be freed for COVID19 -patients since only emergency cases are being taken up at present. When asked what kind of support they were expecting from the government, Dr. Reddy said, “The government was aware that the health care sector was going through trying times. Its support would not stop with COVID-19 alone, and the sector would require its support to tackle all illnesses of people all through.” Red Book A collection of Covid 19 Protocols and Processes, powered by Apollo Hospitals Group Download Red Book

Apollo Hospitals has launched Amazon Alexa Skill- the Ask Apollo skill, which will enable users to find the nearest Apollo Hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and book appointments with doctors of their choice using simple voice commands. Apollo Hospitals Group has always been at the forefront of adopting the latest technology to make healthcare more accessible and this is one such innovative digital initiative. The Ask Apollo skill, developed by MobiSprint Consulting, would provide users access to over 5,000 super-specialties and multispecialty doctors spread across 72 Apollo Hospitals throughout the country. The skill would also enable users to choose their preferred Apollo clinics and access to over 3,500 pharmacies, covering the largest geographical reach in the country. Once enabled, the skill would allow users to interact with Apollo Hospitals through voice commands on all Echo range of devices such as Amazon Echo Show, Echo Plus, and Echo Dot as well as Alexa built-in devices. The skill can also be accessed via the Alexa app available on iOS and Android. Users can simply say, “Alexa, open Apollo”“Alexa, ask Apollo to find me a doctor for consultation” “Alexa, ask Apollo to book an appointment”“Alexa, ask Apollo to find me a surgeon” “Alexa, ask Apollo to book an appointment with a Family Physician” “The mass adoption of artificial intelligence in the lives of people has fueled the shift towards voice applications and the number of IoT devices have given voice assistants more utility in a connected user’s life. With our Alexa skill, Apollo Hospitals has become the first and largest healthcare group in India to power voice-assisted hospital search and appointment booking. We will be adding more features to the skill in the near future,” said Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group. The integration of Apollo Hospitals experience with Amazon Alexa would also help users to schedule consultations on the basis of doctor name and specialty; search nearby hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, thereby avoiding the hassle of calling the call centre or travelling to the hospital to book an appointment.

Ms. Firoza Sarwari, 70 years of age, a resident of Afghanistan who was suffering from a rare tumour in her chest, was successfully treated by Dr. Suresh Singh Naruka, Consultant – ENT, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals along with his team of doctors who performed a highly complicated retro sternal hemi thyroidectomy surgery removal of tumor from the neck and chest. Ms. Firoza Sarwari, presented with a history of swelling in the neck accompanied by difficulty in breathing and swallowing. Post – evaluation it was revealed that she had developed a massive tumour in the chest, which seemed to be arising from the thyroid gland in the neck. Dr Bhabha Nanda Das, Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said, “On imaging, patient was found to have a tumour in chest that was compressing the wind-pipe and food-pipe and was also affecting the heart vessels. The tumor was lying very close to the heart vessels therefore posing danger of injury to the heart vessels at the time of surgery. Although, the tumour was arising from thyroid gland; it had mainly spread in the chest area. This resulted in many other complications such as risk of loss of voice, permanent hole in the neck, damage to large vessels/arteries of heart leading to torrential hemorrhage (excessive bleeding) which posed a high risk to the patient’s life and could lead to death of the patient during surgery. Thus, the line of treatment which the doctors were to adopt needed to be thorough and intricately precise in nature so that no other organs or blood vessels were damaged in the process of surgery.” After thorough evaluation, a multi-disciplinary effort was adopted for treatment with a team of doctors from various specialties coming together to treat the patient. The team comprised of Prof. Dr. Ameet Kishore (Senior Consultant, ENT Surgeon) and Dr. Venus Rawat (Registrar). The immediate line of treatment adopted was removal the tumour via an open chest surgery to access the tumour and to avoid heavy bleeding from the large vessels located in heart. Dr Suresh Singh Naruka, Consultant ENT, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said “We decided to perform Retro Sternal Hemi Thyroidectomy surgery to completely remove the tumour and to avoid any intraoperative complications. Such surgeries are extremely rare, technically challenging and requires a team of specialized surgeons and multi-disciplinary approach. Efficient and thorough planning by the team helped to deal with this case resulting in complete removal without much complications and minimal loss of blood. Patient was discharged after the second day of surgery and is planning to fly back to her country soon.” Dr Ameet Kishore, Senior Consultant surgeon, ENT, at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said “This was a case of a rare tumor and required the combined efforts of multidisciplinary team of doctors. Such cases are splendid examples of the clinical excellence shown by our doctors”

Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar performed the first ever cadaveric transplant in Odisha on February 4, 2020. The whole process of organ retrieval and transplantation was conducted by the team of Apollo Hospitals. The family of the donor was counselled regarding organ transplantation and it was their generosity that made them consent for donation. After a marathon surgery of six hours, the team of doctors in Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar successfully conducted the first cadaveric kidney transplant in the state of Odisha. The other kidney harvested by Apollo Hospitals was transported to SCB medical College & Hospital, Cuttack for transplantation. The donated kidneys belonged to a 26-year-old girl from Ganjam, Odisha who was undergoing treatment in the ICU of Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar since 26th January 2020, for the injury sustained in a road accident. She was under the treatment of Dr. Amit Chanduka, Consultant – Neuro Surgery and was declared brain dead by the ICU team lead by Dr. Sharmili Sinha. After receiving consent from the family the administration at Apollo Hospitals informed SOTTO at SCB Medical College & Hospital on the February 3, 2020. Upon information, Nodal officer SOTTO Dr. C. R. Kar coordinated with the DMET Prof.(Dr.) C. B. K. Mohanty and Joint DMET, Prof (Dr.) Umakanta Satpathy to retrieve the organs. After completing all the procedures as per theTransplant Act, the retrieval was started by Dr. Samirandas Adhikari, Sr. Consultant Urology and Dr. K. P. Satapathy, Sr. Consultant, Urology and team from Apollo Hospital with Dr. Sabyasachi Panda from SCB Medical College in presence of Prof.(Dr.) Datteswar Hota and Prof. (Dr.) Chittaranjan Kar. Once both the kidneys were retrieved, they were allocated to the patients in the waiting list of Apollo Hospital and SCB MCH prepared as per the NOTTO guideline by Dr. Rudrashis Samal, (Joint Director, SOTTO.) and approved by the Kidney Committee. The transplant operation of a patient was undertaken by Dr. Samirandas Adhikari and his team at Apollo Hospital, Bhubaneswar. The Nephrology team of Apollo Hospitals Dr. Nishit Mohanty, and Dr. Bibekananda Panda were also present. Post-transplant the recipient is doing well. Due to various difficulties which includes infrastructure, trained healthcare workers, lack of protocols in brain dead declaration etc, cadaver organ transplantation were not possible earlier. However, the role of SOTTO and State Government are worth commendable for their support in this endeavor, said Shri Sudhir M Diggikar, Central Region CEO (Odisha, Chhattisgarh & Andhra Pradesh) of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited. Odisha Government is proactive and can play a lead role in creating awareness on organ transplantation, he added.