Macquarie University is Australia’s only University-led academic Health Sciences Centre. The conferral was to recognize Ms. Sangita Reddy’s untiring efforts and resolute commitment to bring transformative changes in Indian healthcare, development of Health IT in India and championing manifold initiatives both in India and abroad. Along with the conferral, Macquarie University and Apollo Hospitals have today celebrated the launch of their strategic collaboration that will facilitate long-term, mutually beneficial academic exchanges between the two organizations. As part of this collaboration, Students from Macquarie’s four-year graduate-entry Doctor of Medicine program, the Macquarie MD, will complete five months of clinical learning at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad as part of their degree. Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman-Founder, Apollo Hospitals who was present at the event said “We’re moving more and more towards a world without borders. Here at Apollo, we’re so much more than an Indian community, we’re a global community, and anything we can do which adds value to that, is important to us. We have the infrastructure and people to help deliver and create global doctors and are pleased to be working with Macquarie on their innovative new MD program. The benefits for the students are numerous, for example the disease profiles of the two countries are completely different, providing students with an enriching learning experience. We also treat more than half a million patients a year here at Apollo, so the quantity and breadth of the clinical cases we have will be unlike those that the students will experience in Australia.” Professor S Bruce Dowton, Vice-Chancellor Macquarie University commented “We are incredibly proud to be working with Apollo Hospital. In looking at international collaborations, we sought partners who share similar value sets, and who provide a quality and patient-centered model of care for our students to learn within. Apollo’s long-standing experience in the delivery of medical training, underpinned by its commitment to the achievement of excellence in clinical care made it the perfect partner for our MD program.” Recognizing the value of international learning, the program features extended quality-assured clinical experiences abroad for all students, including core clinical placements and selective opportunities at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad in addition to clinical placements in Sydney: at MQ Health, the Northern Sydney Local Health District (primarily within the Royal North Shore Hospital) and the MindSpo Clinic. The Macquarie MD program has received formal approval and accreditation from the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and Medical Board of Australia (MBA). The AMC, who visited Apollo Hospitals earlier this year, commended the clinical learning opportunities available at Apollo Hospital, and the commitment of the hospital’s clinicians and administration to facilitate the student experience during this rotation.

“I AM A SURVIVOR”, a compendium of real life and awe-inspiring stories of courageous cancer survivors, authored by renowned Oncologist and Director, Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, and published by Penguin, was formally released. Member of Parliament, Ms. K. Kavitha, released the book, at a program attended by Dr. G. N. Rao, Founder & Chairperson, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Cricketer Mr. VVS Laxman, Ms. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals and the author Dr. Vijay Anand Reddy. Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, a cancer specialist with immense faith in his ability to provide succour to cancer patients, had the daunting task of conveying the bad word ‘cancer’ to patients and their near and dear ones. This pronouncement invariably led the patients to a sense of deep remorse, depression and a feeling of dejection with life. This desperate state of the patients seemed to haunt him to no end. He knew that most cancers are treatable with the advances in medicine and what was needed from the patient was the ability to be remain unfazed and to bravely combat it. His experience in treating such patients made him sure that a positive frame of mind could mitigate the trauma and help conquer cancer. He had no readymade solutions on how to impress upon the patients in their moment of immense despair, the need to maintain composure and battle it out with a tough frame of mind. He also realised that no amount of counselling, consoling and attempts to boost their spirit by the doctor, helps to allay their pain beyond a point. It was during such attempts to counsel patients that he realised the need to pen the experiences of some of the warriors of cancer, who could successfully decimate the disease and are a true inspiration to every cancer patient. It took Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, aided by his wife Dr. Sashi, over 3 years of toil, involving most evenings and late nights, after a busy practice through the day, to compile “I AM A SURVIVOR.” Dr Reddy, dedicated the book to his brave patients and his mother Mrs. Damayanthi Devi, whom he lost recently. “I AM A SURVIVOR” shares powerful voices and stories of hope and inspiration of 108 cancer survivors. The book gives the readers a rare insight into the courageous and heartfelt voyage of these patients, the initial helplessness and a despondent state of mind, how they recovered from the jolt they experienced on hearing the dreaded word cancer, picked up the pieces of their lives from scratch and gradually transformed into incredibly strong cancer survivors. The book is replete with the stories of several bravehearts who proved without doubt that cancer which is thought to be invincible, can be vanquished with sheer will power. Here is the gist of a few stories, which transformed from heart wrenching saga to a happy outcome. A young lady walks into my clinic with fear and despair and pleads, “Doctor, please cure my disease and make me live till my children’s education is done.” Not only her children’s education is done but her children are married and she is joyfully playing with her grandchildren! A 25-year-old man walks in and says, “Doctor uncle – I just started my job! I have so many aspirations to fulfil and have to take care of my parents. Please do something. I want to live! I do not want to die!”. He is happily living with his wife and children and also taking care of his parents. A young 14-year-old girl walks into the clinic along with her mother. “Doctor uncle – everyone in the family is crying! Am I going to die? Am I going to lose my leg? Is there no treatment to make me come out of this?” She has gone through the treatment and emerged victorious! Also, she has her legs intact. She is now pursuing her Fashion designing dream! A 33-year-old lady diagnosed of breast cancer was unstoppably crying and says,” I thought of committing suicide yesterday doctor. I do not want to undergo this horrifying and torturing cancer treatment. Any way I am going to die.” Narrating his experiences and what went into compiling this book, Dr Vijay Anand Reddy said, “There are several such emotional touching and powerful stories seen and felt throughout my career. They start losing the battle before they actually begin to fight. I thought there should be some way to deal with this fear from cancer diagnosis, treatment and fear of not getting cured! When a doctor says to a patient that everything will be fine, it doesn’t appeal to the patient so much. When it comes from a patient who has gone through this journey successfully, it works wonders. It certainly has a significant impact on the newly diagnosed patient. Keeping this in mind I started talking to patients who come to my office even after they are cured for many years if they would agree to sharing their journey. Normally, the answer is often no! But most of my patients were kind and brave enough to share their stories. I also started a club called the Freedom from Cancer club where cured patients are made members. These members are already helping our patients on treatment on a regular basis. In conclusion Dr Vijay Anand Reddy added “What Cancer Cannot Do – It cannot cripple love, It cannot shatter hope, It cannot corrode faith, It cannot silence courage, It cannot invade the soul, It cannot steal eternal life, It cannot conquer the spirit.”

Professor Darius F. Mizra, Head of Hepatobiliary and Liver Transplant, Apollo Hospitals and Professor of Hepatobiliary and Transplant surgery, University of Birmingham, UK has got 25 years of extensive experience in the field. Leading the Liver team at Apollo Hospitals, Nashik he strives to a form world class Hepatobiliary and Transplant facility for both adult and children suffering from liver and pancreatic diseases in Maharashtra. He said “The incidence of liver diseases is on the rise and awareness needs to be created regarding the recent medical and surgical options which are available. Most of the times, it is asymptomatic and when the patients start to see the symptoms, it is at an advanced stage, which may require a liver transplantation or liver surgery. Early diagnosis of the disease helps in better medical outcomes.” Dr. Anuj Tiwari, COO, Apollo Hospitals, Nashik said “NABH accredited Apollo Hospitals, Nashik is now among the few hospitals including Apollo Hospitals at Navi Mumbai and Pune in the state of Maharashtra, which has received the acknowledgement to perform liver transplant surgery. We have our established liver clinic treating patients at Nashik and its peripheral areas where the incidence of people suffering from liver disorder is increasing day by day. According to the WHO 2014 data, nearly 2.44% of total deaths in India is caused by liver diseases.”  

The revolutionary hair re-growth formula, QR 678 has shown extraordinary hair re-growth results in male & female pattern baldness. QR 678 growth factor formulation injection therapy is an advanced hair growth and anti-hair loss treatment which uses a mixture of several growth factors to facilitate hair growth and prevent hair loss. The technology recently bagged the prestigious hair re-growth patent from United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), for its physician inventors Dr. Debraj Shome & Dr. Rinky Kapoor. QR 678, which is set to be made commercially available in Tardeo and Chembur centers of Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Mumbai, has already picked up great attention. Speaking about the latest invention, Dr Debraj Shome, Apollo Spectra Hospitals said, “Our studies indicate 30 percent of men under 30 and 80 percent of men under 80 will witness balding. However, these statistics become worse with stressful lifestyles, hormones and antibiotics in food and a variety of other pollutants that are damaging people’s bodies and their hair. Till date, hair transplant was thought to be the only solution but that itself is painful, needs to be repeated and sometimes may not work as well as one would expect. The QR 678 injection therapy is non-surgical, much cheaper and has shown promising results, even in chemotherapy induced hair fall, in cancer patients”. Results from preliminary studies indicated 80 percent hair growth in about 6 months for more than 90 percent people who tried this injection therapy. In some cases, results were even better than hair restoration surgery. The QR 678 treatment is aimed at patients with male pattern baldness, female pattern baldness and baldness caused due to diseases or treatment modules. It involves administration of growth factor solution in the form of 1ml injections into the scalp skin of the patient via mesotherapy, which delivers the growth factor to the targeted tissue layers. This is a 30 second procedure with injections being administered in areas of hair loss and alopecia. The procedure does not involve any anesthesia. Sessions are repeated every 4 weeks, for 8 to 10 sittings. QR 678 treatment, being completely natural costs 1/10 of what an actual hair transplant costs. It can revitalize the scalp through naturally derived molecules that signal one’s cells to reverse time and grow hair. The latest innovation even bypasses the existing and broader process of Platelet Rich Plasma therapy (PRP) and stem cells hair treatment, promoting direct growth factor stimulation of hair growth through a more advanced, much more selective & highly effective approach.

The initiative addressed more than 60 police officials from Navi Mumbai to generate awareness on the medico-legal and compliance procedures that precede a transplant. The aim of the workshop was to make organ donation seamless and painless for all branches of police and donor families, allowing them to realize the noble act of organ donation. As a part of this initiative, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai provided a platform for organised training sessions on organ donation, transplantation and the medical and compliance processes involved with this. The programme was attended by several dignitaries like Shri Hemant Nagrale, Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai; Dr. Gauri Rathod, Asst. Director, Directorate of Health Services; Dr. Sujata Patwardhan, Consultant Renal Surgeon, KEM Hospital and currently representing ROTTO, SOTTO; Dr. S.K. Mathur, Consultant Surgeon and Secretary of ZTCC; Dr. Narendra Trivedi, CEO-Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai; and Prof. Dr Darius F Mirza, Head, HPB and Multi-Organ Transplant Surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, and Professor of HPB and Transplant Surgery, University of Birmingham UK. Shri Hemant Nagrale, Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai, said, “There is a need to have more awareness and clarity in communication in the organ donation pathway. Some of the challenges facing organ transplantation in our country are the low availability of cadaver donor organs. With an ever-increasing spectrum of diseases, organ failures and accidents, the need for voluntary organ donation is high. This programme aims to bring about a positive change to the current transplant scenario by inspiring people to pledge for organ donation after death and bridge the huge gap between need and availability of organs. It is important for the hospitals to motivate people to donate organs as well as to understand the value of organ donation in the life of an individual.” Prof. Dr Darius F Mirza, Head, HPB and Multi-Organ Transplant Surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, and Professor of HPB and Transplant Surgery, University of Birmingham UK said, “Over 300,000 people die in our country due to lack of organ availability. Organ transplantation is an established lifesaving medical treatment for end-stage disease with most patients making a full recovery. Cadaveric organ donation is an essential part of organ transplantation. Awareness about brain death and the generous act of organ donation amongst doctors, hospital administrators, and authorities including the police forces, media and the general public are required for us to be able to achieve organ transplantation in numbers large enough to help most patients.” “Today’s programme aims to create awareness on organ donation among all the various bodies who are essential in facilitating organ donation. It is imperative for all of us to know the medico-legal framework that our country has laid down around organ donation-how it works and what are the responsibilities that each party is required to discharge. We are thankful to Shri. Hemant Nagrale, Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai and his officers and the ZTCC for facilitating this workshop so speedily. We believe we can also help smaller hospitals with their intensive care units in their desire to become organ retrieval centres. This will allow the noble act of organ donation to be carried out as per the donor family’s wishes at the donor hospital without the need to consider transfer of the donor to a recognized hospital”, said Dr. Narendra Trivedi, CEO-Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai.  

Apollo Hospitals Group announced its exclusive representation in GCC states through its arm, Apollo Middle East consultancy (FZC), registered through Sharjah Free zone. This was announced during a seminar organized by Medetarian Conferences Organizing (MCO) & Apollo Hospitals Group on 28th of July 2017 held at Abu Dhabi. The collaboration will have awareness programs, online second medical opinion service and a SCOLIOSIS awareness helpline number provided by HSMC Clinic (Clinic partner of MCO) in association with Apollo’s Institute of Spine Surgery. Speaking at the occasion, Dr Abu El Khair, CEO of MCO & HSMC Clinic said “We are privileged to have Afro-Asia’s largest healthcare provider with us and this is the first of its kind initiative in the region.. In today’s world of ever increasing disease burden, such collaboration will help and this way we intend to connect the medical fraternity of UAE & India. Dr K Hariprasad, Group President-Hospital Division led the Apollo delegation. Speaking at the event, he stated “At Apollo, we believe that healthcare is a shared responsibility and we have been privileged to offer the best of healthcare at affordable prices to the people of this region for over 3 decades. We are delighted to have this health alliance and we would enhance our reach through the Apollo Middle East Consultancy in UAE.” The event was followed by a medical seminar on robotics in spine surgery, common intracranial disorders and recent advances in neurosurgery, infections in arthroplasty treatment, current management in pediatric bone disorders and management of pediatric cerebral palsy. The Apollo Delegation had Chief Spine Surgeon, Dr. Sajan K Hegde, Senior Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. KJ Reddy, Senior Consultant Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. R Sankar and Senior. Consultant Neurosurgeon, Dr. Rahul Lath, Mr. Jithu Jose, Business Head-Middle East & Ms. Shubhra Singhal, Partner – Apollo Middle East Consultancy.  

In India, dengue has emerged as one of the biggest threats to public health. Last year, more than 1 lakh dengue cases were reported in India with 245 unfortunate dengue deaths. Dengue is an acute viral disease, which is caused by a mosquito bite. It is growing rapidly and continues to take lives of innocent people unabatedly because dengue has no cure and has to be treated symptomatically. While people are aware of the cause of dengue, there is a lack of awareness on how dengue can be cured. Absence of a cure, coupled with lack of awareness leads to a lot of anxiety, driving patients to get admitted the moment they are diagnosed positive. The dengue virus causes a sharp drop in the platelet count of the patient’s blood, triggering internal bleeding and other complications. In rare cases, when the platelet count drops below 20,000/cu.mm, the patient may require an urgent transfusion of platelets. A recent survey carried out by Godrej HIT & Research Now states that 94% of citizens are unaware about the critical level of platelet count below which platelet transfusion is required. In such a situation, ready availability of a platelet donor becomes critical, as unlike blood, platelets cannot be stored for more than 5 days. However, the Godrej HIT Research Now report also informed that 80% of the citizens are not aware of this important fact. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Godrej HIT and Apollo Hospitals has taken this bold initiative to educate citizens and build India’s first online nation-wide platelet donor community. As part of the initiative, Apollo Hospitals will be providing platelets to critical dengue patients and will manage the 24×7 helpline. Godrej HIT & Apollo Hospitals have been leading multiple community outreach programs. Over the last many years both have been educating masses about mosquito borne diseases and its preventive measures. On the occasion, Ms. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Vector borne diseases like dengue are emerging as a threat to public health in India. To address this issue, we at Apollo Hospitals, have tied-up with Godrej HIT to build a platelet donor community. Through this initiative, we are trying to bridge the disparity in awareness and provide ready resources to manage diseases like dengue. Apollo Hospitals has set-up and will manage a 24×7 helpline for patients suffering from dengue. The helpline is available for donors willing to donate their platelets and for donors looking to receive platelets for their treatment. This initiative is aimed towards building a donor community that can help fellow citizens who fall victim to dengue. With Apollo’s wide reach, our clinical outcomes and the expertise our doctors we are confident that we will help significantly address the challenge posed by dengue and related fevers.” Sunil Kataria, Business Head-India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) said “Dengue has emerged as a serious threat to public health in India. While people are aware that mosquito bites causes dengue, they are unaware of the curative measures, especially about platelets. Our Godrej HIT-Research Now research reveals that 90% citizens are aware that platelets are blood components but a startling 66% believe that platelets are a cure for dengue and 80% believe that platelets can be stored like blood, both of which are factually incorrect! This lack of awareness leads to lot of anxiety among citizens. Hence Godrej HIT has partnered with Apollo Hospitals to build India’s first online nation-wide platelet donor community for dengue patients”. He further added “Through this initiative we urge citizens to register as a platelet donor on www.godrejhit.com/trackthebite or on Hit Track the Bite app and help save lives of critical dengue patients. The registration response has been overwhelming and in less than 2 weeks, more than 20,000 citizens have registered as platelet donors. Dengue patients can call on a city-specific 24×7 platelet helpline number across 5 key metros to get platelets. For Delhi NCR, the platelet helpline number is 011-26825565.” Godrej HIT’s association with Apollo Hospitals is a multi-channel awareness program. This initiative will drive citizen awareness in 5 key metros to start with.

Citrullinaemia is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder affecting about 1 in 57,000 people worldwide including a neonatal acute form and a late-onset form. Citrullinaemia is caused by deficiency or absence of the enzyme argininosuccinatesynthetase (ASS), one of six enzymes that play a key role in the removal of nitrogen from the body in the process known as the urea cycle. The lack of this enzyme results in excessive accumulation of nitrogen in the form of ammonia in the blood. The symptoms of citrullinemia are seen usually following a protein meal. The patient, a 7-year-old male was diagnosed with Citrullenaemia at birth by genetic testing. He was the 4th child in the family. The previous two of the siblings died in the 1st week of their life and two of the siblings were diagnosed with high ammonia levels, a condition known as citrullinaemia. The patient was managed with medications and dietary restrictions. However, he had multiple episodes of convulsions due to high ammonia levels. Also because of his hyperactivity and behavioural problems, managing him in the growing age was becoming difficult for the family. The family consulted the doctors at Apollo Institutes of Liver disease and Transplantation at Navi Mumbai and were advised liver transplantation to correct the enzyme deficiency, which was the cause of citrullinaemia. His mother, a 37-year-old female decided to donate her liver. She was heterozygotic carrier of the disease. She donated the left lateral segment of her liver (about 25% of her liver). Immediately after transplantation the patient was put up on intravenous medications to keep his ammonia levels low till the new liver showed good synthetic function. His liver functions tests normalized within a week and ammonia levels decreased without medication. The treatment of citrullinaemia is aimed at preventing excessive ammonia from being formed or for removing excessive ammonia during a hyperammonaemic episode. Medications that assist in the removal of nitrogen from the body by providing an alternative means of waste nitrogen removal are employed. Dietary restrictions are aimed at limiting the amount of protein intake to avoid the development of excess ammonia. However, enough protein must be taken in, by an affected infant to ensure proper growth. As argininosuccinatesynthetase enzyme is present in liver, liver transplantation corrects the enzyme deficiency and improves quality of life.

A vague symptom of numbness turned out to be a rare case of complex brain aneurysm (a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel) for 56-year-old Shylaja, a Vijaynagar resident. Feeling sudden weakness and numbness on the left side of her body, she rushed to a neurologist last month, who diagnosed her with brain aneurysm. In her case, of the four arteries pumping blood and glucose from the heart to the brain, two major arteries were blocked and the remaining two which come together to form one artery had worn out due to overburdening. Although she required an urgent surgery wherein doctors could place a flow diverter (stent) in the artery, they realised it was a risky procedure. Besides, the patient could not afford the expensive stent. Luckily for her, the 2nd annual Congress of the Society of Neuro Vascular Interventions had started in city around the same time. Doctors in Apollo Hospitals, Seshadripuram, who had diagnosed her case discussed it with interventional neuroradiologists at the conference. Help came from Professor Hans Henkes, noted neuroradiologist from Germany, who offered to donate the flow diverters for her. On June 17, the last day of the three-day conference, Apollo doctors – consultant neurologist Dr. J B Agadi, neurosurgeon Dr. Ravi Mohan Rao and interventional neuroradiologist Dr. Sharath Kumar G.G. along with Dr. Henkes performed a 7-hour procedure through a keyhole surgery on her thigh (similar to an angiogram) and successfully treated her by implanting the flow diverters. Dr. Sharath Kumar said that the case was extremely rare as she had complex brain blood vessel disease. With two major arteries blocked and the remaining two which come together to form one vessel also diseased, the challenge was to treat the diseased vessel. “Even a minor mistake during the surgery due to technical or procedure related complications would be fatal for the patient. If left untreated, multiple aneurysms would burst and kill the patient as well,” he said. Most brain aneurysms cause no symptoms and may only be discovered during tests. An unruptured aneurysm will cause problems by pressing on areas in the brain. When this happens, the person may suffer from severe headaches, blurred vision, changes in speech, and neck pain, depending on what areas of the brain are affected and how bad the aneurysm is. Symptoms of a ruptured brain aneurysm often develop suddenly, the doctor said. The patient has been discharged and is doing fine now.  

The partnership will offer two new Regenerative Medicine Cell Therapy products – Ossron™ and Chondron® for bone and cartilage problems, respectively. The two products will address unmet clinical needs in the orthopaedic market with respect to sports injuries, accidents and alternate to hip replacements and knee replacements for a young arthritic knee. In an exclusive tie-up between Apollo Hospitals and RMS Regrow, the treatment therapy will be made available across all Apollo Hospitals, Apollo Spectra Hospitals and Apollo clinics in India. Ossron™ and Chondron® are the results of a dedicated research team at REGROW. The two products are innovative proprietary and patented technology that have been developed following the regulatory guidelines. Through several clinical trials and evaluation studies over 8 years, the company has achieved the market authorization for the two cell therapy products. As an exclusive offering, Apollo Hospitals will create a platform for orthopaedic doctors to practise Regenerative Medicine efficiently by conducting live surgical workshops, CME’s for doctors and conferences (national and international). Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Founder-Chairman of Apollo Hospitals, said: “Bringing innovation in healthcare and addressing the unmet medical needs of India has been the foremost aim of the Apollo Group. In our quest to do so, we also want to encourage research and innovation within India for the people of India. Our association with RMS Regrow is a step to inspire talent in India to further the advancement in developing innovative healthcare treatments to reduce the growing disease burden in India.” Commenting on the launch Mr. Yash Sanghavi, Founder and CEO of RMS REGROW, “We are delighted to partner with a leader like Apollo Hospitals which offers RMS REGROW unprecedented opportunity to reach patients, pan India. It has taken 8 years of dedicated effort and innovative research to develop the two revolutionary products that will change the modalities for bone and cartilage treatment in India. Since the last 70 years, only a handful of New Chemical Entities (NCE) have been developed in India, which demonstrates a dearth of innovator drugs and new medical technologies to address a large market of bone and joint disorders. In India, more than 15 lakh (>15, 00,000) orthopaedic procedures are performed each year and Regenerative Cell Therapy is a revolutionary treatment methodology which has immense potential to liberate consumers from Joint pain.” Also present on the occasion was Ms Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals. Commenting on the development, she says “At Apollo Hospitals, bringing innovative treatments to improve the quality of life of our patients is paramount. We have also developed the expertise to create ecosystems that enable use of the developing health technology. These two products are revolutionary and Apollo’s doctors in partnership with RMS REGROW, will develop workshops and educative sessions across India to bring this technology to practice at the earliest.”

This Gastroenterology unit is the first of its kind in the state of Karnataka for performing rare and unusual procedures making Mysore the hub of best medical care in the field of Gastroenterology in Karnataka. Launching the unit, Gastroenterology Institute Head, Dr. Rajkumar Wadhwa, said that the technology includes latest high definition magnifying endoscopes and blue laser imaging method, a new endoscopic system to image upper gastrointestinal lesions for early detection of gastric cancer and early esophageal cancer. The Gastroenterology unit comprises of an excellent team of Gastroenterologists as well as Gastrosurgeons with Dr. Rajkumar P Wadhwa, leading the team. Along with him are Dr. Devaraj, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, Dr. Jayanth, Consultant General and Laparoscopic surgeon and Dr. Nairuthya, Consultant Gastrosurgeon.  

Apollo Cancer Institute, Hyderabad has accomplished a rare distinction of successfully treating three patients with acute blood cancer ailments, who were in a precarious condition when they came to the hospital. These patients were suffering from rare Bone Marrow Stem Cell Disorders of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria (PNH) – a bone marrow stem cell disease, which leads to rapid destruction of red cells; Biphenotypic Acute Leukemia – a rare type of Blood cancer with less than 8% survival rate and Aplastic Anaemia – a disease of Bone marrow, which curtails blood cells production. The matching stem cell donor for one of the patients was from Germany as no such donor was available here. Briefing the media about the stupendous accomplishment, Dr Padmaja Lokireddy, Consultant Haemato – oncology and Stem cell Transplant, Apollo Cancer Institute; Mr Y Subramaniam, CEO and Dr Ravindra Babu, Medical Superintendent, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad said that stem cell transplant is cure for many blood disorders; Apollo Cancer Institute is one of the few Centers in the country with the necessary expertise and is geared to provide succour to such patients. Mr Biswajit Saha, a 37 year old farmer hailing from Assam, was suffering from rare bone marrow stem cell disorder called PNH (Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria), which occurs in 1 amongst a 10 lakh population. He was suffering with Anaemia, red coloured urine due to breakage of his red blood cells for the last two years. Such patients develop blood clots in the main blood vessels and if left untreated can develop life threatening heart and lung problems. Mr. Saha was transfused with blood at regular intervals, at times, 3 units a week. His visits to several doctors couldn’t get him relief and was mostly misdiagnosed and treated for a liver ailment. His condition deteriorated over time as he had developed lung and heart problems and was breathless on minimal exertion. That’s when he approached Apollo Cancer Institute, Hyderabad and our diagnosis identified it as PNH. The option available for Mr. Saha was an antibody treatment called Eculizumab(solaris), to be taken every week for lifetime. This medication is not available currently in India and is also way beyond his means, costing Rs 8 lakhs per week. Hence, the second-best treatment option was bone marrow transplant. He has undergone the first known PNH transplant in India four months ago, with the bone marrow donated by his brother. He has since recovered fully and is going about with his daily routine, in his village. Since the transplant he has not needed any blood transfusion and his lung and heart functions reverted to normal. A thirty-one-year-old, mother of two, Mrs Kavitha, was diagnosed with Biphenotypic Acute Leukemia, a lethal ailment with two different types of blood cancers – acute Myeloid and Acute Lymphoid Leukemia, manifesting simultaneously. She had 98% disease in the bone marrow, in the chest and abdomen, cancer cells were detected even in the brain. The survival rate of patients with this type of leukemia was a dismal 8%. The initial dose of chemotherapy proved futile as the disease in her was virulent and had to take recourse to administering two other aggressive types of chemotherapy to gain control over it. However, the permanent cure was to perform a Bone marrow transplant on her. The strong dosage of chemotherapy took a serious toll on her condition and she had to be infused with nutritional support through her veins daily, to improve her weight and prepare her for a Transplant. The next seemingly insurmountable challenge we had on our hand was not finding a matching donor from amongst her family members and our attempt to locate a full match for her in the Indian, German and American registries proved in vain. We had to compromise with a donor of a different blood group with 90% match from Bangalore. The Transplant performed with all the associated challenges was of very high risk and extremely complex. Subsequent to the transplant, she contracted Cytomegalovirus virus infection which she fought through and has now crossed 100 days which is a giant milestone in the transplant process. Her blood test reveals 99% of Donor DNA type which gives reassurance that her Leukemia is cured. The third patient, Mrs Prathima, a 32 year old lady was diagnosed with Aplastic anaemia three years ago and had very low platelet count and anaemia. Such patients are highly susceptible to infections and need regular blood and platelet transfusion. The initial option of Horse serum (ATG) treatment did not have long lasting success. The only chance of cure for her was bone marrow Transplantation, for which she came to Apollo Cancer Institute, Hyderabad. She didn’t have a matching family donor but our search for a full 100% matching donor helped locate one in Germany. We had donor stem cells collected and airlifted fresh within 24 hours from there. Since her transplant, she had not had any major complications and didn’t need any platelet transfusions. Dr Padmaja Lokireddy said “It’s a moment of immense fulfilment for me and the entire team at Apollo Cancer Institute, Hyderabad, for successfully treating patients with three complex and rare blood cancer ailments needing bone marrow transplantation. The outcome being on par with the best international institutions, gives us the impetus to take on bigger challenges and be the centre of excellence for treating complex blood cancer ailments in this part of the world”.