Mumbai: Fifty-year-old Rajesh Agarwal, who is the first case in India to have a rare blood group system, had to donate his own blood for open-heart surgery at Lilavati and Research Hospital.
Agarwal was diagnosed with a tumor in his heart two months back. When he came to Mumbai for tumor surgery, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Pavan Kumar found he had several blockages in his heart – a rare co-existence of tumors and blockages.
Myxomas tumor
Myxomas are extremely rare tumors that can develop in the heart and disrupt normal cardiac function. However, this case presented an additional challenge: A blood group called Gerbich Phenotype, which is found in less than 0.01% of Indian population.
“It was a rare blood group system which had resulted in the formation of anti-Ge2 allo-antibodies due to which it couldn’t match with anyone else's blood group. However, we had to remove myxoma tumor from his heart without requiring any external blood transfusion,” said a treating doctor.
No blood compatible members in family
The team at Lilavati Hospital – Dr Pavan Kumar, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon; Dr Abhay Bhave, hematologist; Dr Ruhi Mehra, consultant, transfusion medicine and Dr Nitin Chavan, co-ordinator pathology and transfusion medicine attended Agarwal.
Dr Pavan Kumar said his mother, three siblings and two sons underwent tests, but none were found to be compatible, creating a complex situation. After a series of consultations with Agarwal, Dr Kumar said they decided to use his own blood.
Dr Ruhi Mehra said that collecting his own blood could also pose a risk to his heart since it was a cardiac case. “Hence, his haemoglobin (Hb) was built up prior to starting his collections. Three units of his own blood were collected over a period of two-three weeks,” she said.
