Hyderabad, May 3rd, 2019 : The Apollo Heart and Lung Transplant Institute at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills, in collaboration with Montefiore Medical Center, New York, is hosting, India's first exclusive Conference on Lung transplantation. The two day Congress, Management of Advanced Lung Diseases and Lung Transplantation, will be held on the 4th and 5th of May at HICC Novotel. The Conference is endorsed by the Indian Chest Society, South zone.
Speaking at a press conference, at Apollo Hospitals on Friday, Dr. A.G.K. Gokhale, Organising Chair, Conference on Management of Advanced Lung Diseases & Lung Transplantation and Sr. Consultant, Cardiothoracic, Transplant & Minimal Access Surgery, Apollo Hospitals; Dr. Harish Seethamraju, Medical Director, Advanced Lung Failure & Lung Transplant, Montefiore Medical Center, New York and Dr. Hari Prasad, President- Hospitals Division, Apollo Hospitals Group; said, Lung related ailments pose a challenge for both patients and clinicians. Clinicians have limited treatment options and patients are exhausted of their resources. Lung transplantation is increasingly becoming the preferred option of treatment. There are nearly 50000 patients in India who are likely to be benefitted by lung transplantation, done by experienced teams.
In advanced lung diseases like chronic obstructive lung disease and interstitial lung disease, both lungs are destroyed and they do not effectively transfer oxygen into the blood. Often patient becomes bedridden and cannot perform any activities and become dependent on others. The prevalence of interstitial lung disease is up to 97.9 per 100000 per year and the incidence is of 19.4 per 100000 per year. 17% of these may not be benefitted by any treatment and may require Lung transplantation. There are 30 million chronic obstructive lung disease patients in India. As it is a progressive disease, the end stage patients will benefit from Lung transplantation. COPD is the leading cause for lung transplantation throughout the world. Similarly Primary pulmonary hypertension, a condition in which pressures in lung blood vessels increase without a known cause, is a very common problem in our country. It is the under diagnosed, under treated, under estimated, silent killer. Patients with Primary pulmonary hypertension can benefit from optimisation of medication and Lung transplantation.
Patients with chronic lung conditions, tend to have poor quality of life and majority of them are home bound, with home oxygen Lung transplantation currently being the preferred treatment option for a variety of these end stage Lung diseases. Remarkable progress has taken place worldwide in the field of Lung transplantation, which is the option for all such patients. However we lag behind in replicating the success rates on par with them, says Dr. Gokhale.
The Conference will lay thrust on current aspects of managing advanced lung diseases and various aspects of Lung transplantation, besides two workshops conducted by international faculty on ECMO and Right Heart Catheterisation. Some highlight topics being focussed at the Conference are, new lung preservation techniques, optimisation of donor lung, induction chemotherapy, advances in surgical technique, changing trends of anaesthesia and improved out comes in view of better post op immunosupression, overall leading to increased survival. Discussion on advances in medical management of these advanced lung diseases will be the bedrock of the Conference.
We have an exclusive Lung Transplant Team at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills, headed by renowned Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Padmasree awardee Dr. A//a Gopalakrishna Gokha/e. Our team consists of a dedicated transplant pulmonologist Dr. Chaitanya Battu, Anaesthetists, Intensivists, infectious disease physicians, and a well established lung rehabilitation program, says Dr. Hari Prasad. The Hospital will be establishing a Multi disciplinary advanced lung failure and Lung transplantation clinic in association with Montefiore Medical Center, New York to bring Global standards to Hyderabad, he adds.
The Conference will have over 250 delegates from all over the country and 60 faculty members including 6 international faculty, attending. The speakers are eminent chest clinicians, transplant pulmonologists and surgeons, intensivists, transplant anaesthesiologists, Rheumatologists, Cardiologists, Radiologists, Infectious disease Physicians from USA and India. The Conference is aimed at pulmonologists involved in managing advanced lung diseases, to enhance their skills and to provide an insight into various aspects of lung transplantation, including when to advice patients about it.
Some of the eminent international faculty at the Conference are Dr. Robert Michler, Surgeon in chief, CVTS, Montefiore Medical center, New York; Dr. Harish Seetham Raju, Medical Director, Advanced lung failure and lung transplant, Montefiore Medical center, New York; Dr. Alan Scott Scheinin, Surgical Director, Advanced lung failure and lung transplant, Montefiore Medical center, New York; Dr. Jonathan Leff, Associate Professor, Anaesthesia, Montefiore Medical center, New York; Dr. Hani Sabbour, Cardiologist and Staff Physician, Cleveland clinic, Abu Dhabi and Dr. Sudhakar Pipavath, Professor of Radiology, University of Washington, USA. The faculty from India comprises of Dr. G.C. Khilnani, Retired Professor, HoD, Pulmonology, AIIMS, New Delhi; Dr. Deepak Talwar, Director of Pulmonology, Metro Hospitals, Noida; Dr. Rajadhar, Director, Dept, of Pulmonology, Fortis, Kolkata; Dr. Amith Dhameja, Director, Interventional Pulmonology, Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi; Dr. R. Vijai Kumar, Chairman, Indian Chest Society, South Zone and Dr. Paramjyothi, Dean, Professor, HoD, Pulmonary Medicine, NIMS, Hyderabad.
