At Kolkata’s Manipal Broadway Unit, Manipal Hospitals has successfully revived a critically ill 71-year-old malaria patient, reaffirming its core values of multidisciplinary care, thorough treatment, and quicker recovery times. With a high patient survival rate of more than 50% during COVID-19, the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support facility where the patient was receiving treatment had already gained national recognition.

The miraculous revival was led by Dr. Susruta Bandyopadhyay, HOD – ICU and Critical Care, Dr. Rajarshi Roy, Critical Care Specialist, along with a multidisciplinary specialists panel including Dr. Subhasis Ganguly, Consultant, Internal Medicine, Dr. Subhasis Roy Chowdhury, Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiology, Dr. Ranjan Sarkar, Senior Consultant Nephrology, Dr. Debraj Jash, Head of the Department – Pulmonology (Respiratory and Sleep Medicine), Dr. Ashok Verma, Cardiac Anaesthetist; Dr. Sujit Chaudhuri, Head of the Department – Medical Gastroenterology, Dr. Kaushik Das, Consultant – ENT Head & Neck Surgeon, Dr. Debayan Tarafdar, Consultant – ENT and Dr. Subhra Ganguly, Consultant – ENT.

With their combined experience and evidence-based therapies, the team was able to wean the patient off ECMO on November 1st after a tracheostomy—a surgically constructed opening through the neck into the windpipe to allow air to fill the lungs—was placed for greater respiratory assistance.

On October 21, 2024, Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, a 71-year-old infertility specialist and well-known obstetrics and gynecology consultant, was taken to the Manipal Hospitals Emergency Department (ED) on Broadway in a very grave condition. He needed non-invasive breathing assistance for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) after being transferred from another hospital. He had experienced a high-grade fever, headache, loss of appetite, and generalized arthralgia (joint pain) for five days. According to tests conducted at the former hospital, there may have been a connection between Plasmodium vivax malaria and some heart problems. Since Dr. Chatterjee’s hypoxia was getting worse, he was sent straight to Critical Care upon admission and put on Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV).

He was intubated and kept on mechanical ventilation as his oxygen saturation did not improve. In the meantime, medical professionals attempted to help him by using prone ventilation.

The doctors chose to implement Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) on October 23 as a last resort for his respiratory function after educating the family about the advantages and disadvantages. He was moved from the intensive care unit to the intensive care unit and then to the ward. He steadily improved and was released on November 14th, smiling gratefully, which was a testament to the patient’s tenacity and the medical team’s committed care and cooperation.

This recovery is the result of evidence-based interventions combined with the multidisciplinary team’s combined strength.

Priyanka Dutta