Gleneagles Global Hospital in Chennai, previously known as Global Hospitals, built its reputation on one thing: multi-organ transplant. Liver, kidney, heart and lung transplant programmes have all operated here, which puts it in a very small group of Indian hospitals, and the supporting services in hepatology, nephrology, cardiology and critical care grew up around that work.
Chennai is the natural home for this. The city has the longest medical travel history in India, a deep pool of transplant and cardiothoracic surgeons, and a deceased donor organ programme that has been among the more active in the country. For a patient from Bengaluru facing organ failure, Chennai is one of the few realistic destinations.
Why patients choose Gleneagles Global Hospital
Liver transplant is the largest programme, covering living donor and deceased donor transplant for cirrhosis, acute liver failure and liver cancer, in adults and children. Volume matters more here than in almost any other operation, because the surgery is long, the physiology is unforgiving, and the postoperative course determines survival.
Second, the hospital handles the medicine around transplant properly: hepatology, nephrology, dialysis, cardiology, respiratory medicine, infectious disease and intensive care. Transplant fails on infection and on graft rejection, not usually on the surgery itself, so the strength of these departments is the real question.
Third, it runs a full multi-specialty service, so cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, oncology and gastrointestinal surgery are available for patients who need something other than a transplant.
Treatments offered at Gleneagles Global Hospital
- Hepatology & Liver Transplant - cirrhosis, acute liver failure, liver cancer, living donor and deceased donor liver transplant, adult and paediatric
- Nephrology & Kidney Transplant - dialysis, chronic kidney disease, glomerular disease and kidney transplant
- Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery - angioplasty, bypass grafting, valve surgery, advanced heart failure care and heart transplant
- Urology & Kidney Transplant - endourology, stone disease, prostate surgery and urological cancer
- Gastroenterology - therapeutic endoscopy, portal hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease and pancreatic disease
- Neurosurgery - brain tumours, spinal surgery, head injury and stroke intervention
- Oncology & Cancer Medicine - medical oncology, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgical oncology
- Hematology & Blood Disorders - leukaemia, lymphoma and other blood disorders
- Stem Cell Therapy - bone marrow transplant for blood cancers and marrow failure
- Orthopaedics Joints & Spine Surgery - joint replacement, revision surgery, arthroscopy and spinal surgery
- General Surgery - laparoscopic and open abdominal surgery, hepatobiliary surgery
- Bariatric & Weight Loss Surgery - sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass
- Vascular Surgery - aneurysm repair, dialysis access and peripheral arterial disease
- Pediatric Surgery - paediatric transplant and general paediatric surgery with intensive care
- Gynecology - obstetrics, high-risk pregnancy and gynaecological surgery
- Endocrinology & Diabetes - diabetes, thyroid and metabolic disorders, including diabetes after transplant
- ENT Surgery - ear, sinus, airway and head and neck surgery
- Ophthalmology - cataract, retina and corneal surgery
- Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery - reconstruction and aesthetic surgery
- Rheumatology - inflammatory arthritis and connective tissue disease
- Dermatology - medical and procedural dermatology
- Infectious Disease - sepsis, tuberculosis and infection in transplant and immunosuppressed patients
What a transplant assessment involves
Expect a full work-up rather than a consultation. For a liver transplant that means imaging of the liver and its vessels, endoscopy, cardiac and respiratory assessment, dental clearance, screening for infection and cancer, and a psychological evaluation. If a living donor is proposed, the donor undergoes a parallel assessment including imaging to measure liver volume.
Then the regulatory stage. Living related transplant requires documented proof of the donor relationship, and foreign nationals need embassy attestation and clearance from a statutory authorisation committee. Deceased donor allocation for foreign nationals is more restricted, so ask exactly what applies to your nationality and organ before making financial commitments.
Ask for the recipient package and the donor work-up quoted separately, for the unit's annual volume and one-year survival, and for the cost of the first year of immunosuppression and monitoring.