Coronavirus Patient On Life Support Survives Pandemic Following Lung Transplant Surgery In China

Doctors in China performed organ transplant surgery on the 65-year-old man, who’s been on life support for more than two months, after he tested positive for coronavirus disease.

Cui An underwent a double lung transplant surgery on April 20 at the People’s Hospital of Wuhan University. The life-saving procedure, which lasted for six hours, involved 20 medical health practitioners, Daily Mail reported.

The director of thoracic surgery of said hospital, Dr. Lin Huiqing, reportedly said the operation was of high risk; however, it was the only way to save the patient’s life following the irreversible damage to his lungs caused by the virus.

The medical health workers who participated in the surgery donned full-body protective equipment. The medics wore positive-pressure covers to provide them with positive pressure since the operation was done under a negative-pressure room to limit the spread of the virus

The director reportedly said that as soon as the medics wore the headgears, language communication was barred. They reportedly had to rely on their experience and mutual understanding during the lung transplant.

The patient started showing symptoms of coronavirus disease in January. The doctors confirmed that he contracted the deadly virus on Feb. 7 but the patient’s condition started deteriorating on Feb. 17. At that time, the patient was reportedly receiving treatment at Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China. A day later, doctors at the said hospital hooked him to an artificial machine for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation treatment.

ECMO is a treatment that uses a pump to circulate blood via an artificial lung back to the bloodstream. According to Medline Plus, ECMO is used for infants with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, birth defects of the heart, meconium aspiration syndrome, severe pneumonia, severe air leak problems and severe high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs (PPHN).

ECMO can be also used to support patients waiting for heart or lung transplants as well as those who are in the recovery period following a heart operation.

The risky and challenging double lung transplant was a success and the patient’s life support was removed after 62 days. Dr. Lin said that the patient is conscious but has difficulty in speaking due to the damage in the throat caused by the intubation, Republic World reported.