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one patient People with life-threatening illnesses manage to survive without lung Two days – thanks surgeon Who made him a man-made one.
The 33-year-old man suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which causes inflammation and difficulty breathing. lung infection. It was triggered by the flu and his lungs rapidly deteriorated until Damaged beyond repairhe contracted bacterial pneumonia.
Eventually, his lungs, heart and kidneys began to fail, double lung transplant Becomes his only chance of survival.
Surgeons involved OperationResearchers at Northwestern University in Illinois describe how they removed a patient’s infected lung and built an “artificial lung” to keep him alive until a double lung transplant could be performed.
“He was very ill. His heart stopped as soon as he arrived. We had to perform CPR,” recalled lead author Ankit Bharat, a thoracic surgeon at Northwestern University. “When the infection becomes so severe that the lungs melt, they are irreparably damaged. That’s when the patient dies.”
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The patient’s body was too weak to receive the new lungs and needed more time to recover from the infection, according to a report published by Cell Press. Magazine and.
To save the man’s life, surgeons designed an artificial lung system that temporarily replaced the organ’s function. It oxygenates the blood, removes carbon dioxide, and helps maintain steady blood flow to the heart and body.
Once surgeons remove the infected lung, the patient’s organs and blood pressure begin to recover.
After two days of artificial lung breathing, the donor lung was available and a double lung transplant was performed.
The surgeon said that more than two years later, the patient has returned to daily life and has good lung function.
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Only around 150 to 200 lung transplants are performed in the UK each year. However, lung charity Action on Pulmonary Fibrosis explains that there are not enough suitable donor lungs in the UK and it is difficult to find suitable donor lungs for individuals.
“Traditionally, lung transplantation has been reserved for patients with chronic diseases such as interstitial lung disease or cystic fibrosis,” Dr. Barratt said. “Currently, people think that if you have severe ARDS and you continue to support them, eventually the lungs will get better.”
But when damaged lungs were removed from patients and analyzed, extensive scarring and immune damage were found. Surgeons explain that these are signs that the tissue has reached an irreversible stage and is unable to recover on its own.
“For the first time, we provide molecular evidence from a biological perspective that some patients require a double lung transplant or they will not survive,” Dr. Barratt explained.
The use of artificial lungs is currently rare Operation and is limited to highly specialized centers with the expertise and resources to perform the task.
But surgeons involved in the case hope the method will be adopted into more standardized equipment, allowing patients to stay alive while they wait for new lungs.
“In my practice, young patients die almost every week because no one realizes transplant is an option,” Dr. Barratt added. “For severe lung damage caused by respiratory viruses or infections, even in acute settings, lung transplantation can be life-saving.”