The death of a young girl at Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center, allegedly due to an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction, has raised serious concerns over safety procedures at the country’s leading cardiac centre.
Five-year-old Aakriti Kumari Sah of Sisaudiya Municipality in Sarlahi district was discovered to have a double-chambered right ventricle, a rare congenital heart condition, and was admitted to the hospital on April 26. She underwent surgery on April 30 and died the same day, allegedly due to a mismatch in her blood group
Copies of the hematology report obtained by the Post show Sah’s blood type as ‘O’ positive. However, relatives were asked to arrange for ‘A’ positive blood, according to a copy of the prescription seen by the Post.
Issuing a press release on Monday, Prem Sagar Karmacharya, president of the society, demanded stern action against those responsible.
Earlier in February, in another case, the Shahid Gangalal laboratory had identified two contradicting blood groups–‘A’ positive and ‘A’ negative—for the same patient.
Doctors at the hospital had asked relatives to arrange for ‘A’ negative blood, but a blood group mismatch during cross-verification had led to the operating being postponed.