Original article written by Tom Hale (JUNE 12, 2020 11:54 BST)

A double lung transplant has saved the life of a previously healthy young woman who fell seriously ill with Covid-19.

Doctors at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago performed the double-lung transplant on a patient, a Hispanic woman in her 20s who was otherwise healthy, after her lungs were left ravaged by Covid-19. It’s the first time a lung transplant has been carried out on a patient recovering from Covid-19, but the doctors say it was the only option left on the table. 

“A lung transplant was her only chance for survival,” Ankit Bharat, MD, chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplant Program, said in a statement.

The patient had spent the six previous weeks in the hospital’s Covid-19 intensive care unit on a ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a life support machine that does the work of the heart and lungs by pumping oxygenated blood around the body. 

“For many days, she was the sickest person in the COVID ICU – and possibly the entire hospital,” explains Beth Malsin, MD, pulmonary and critical care specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “There were so many times, day and night, our team had to react quickly to help her oxygenation and support her other organs to make sure they were healthy enough to support a transplant if and when the opportunity came.”

Eventually, the patient’s Covid-19 tests came back negative. Although the virus had been cleared from the body, she remained in severe condition and the lungs were left with irreversible damage from the infection. Her doctors said the lungs were pitted with holes and “completely plastered” to the tissue around them. In a last-ditch effort to save her life, the patient was put on the list for a double-lung transplant. A matching donor was quickly identified and within 48 hours, a team of surgeons performed the 10-hour procedure at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The operation has been hailed as a success, but this patient’s battle isn’t over yet. 

“While this young woman still has a long and potentially risky road to recovery given how sick she was with multi-organ dysfunction for weeks preceding the transplant, we hope she will make a full recovery,” says Rade Tomic, MD, a pulmonologist and medical director of the Lung Transplant Program.

“How did a healthy woman in her 20s get to this point? There’s still so much we have yet to learn about Covid-19. Why are some cases worse than others? The multidisciplinary research team at Northwestern Medicine is trying to find out,” said Tomic. 

Reference:

Hale, Tom. “Double Lung Transplant Saves Life Of Young Healthy Woman In Coronavirus First.” IFLScience, IFLScience, 12 June 2020, http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/double-lung-transplant-saves-life-of-young-healthy-woman-in-coronavirus-first/?dfp=1&taboola=1&utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=spotim_recirculation. Accessed 16 June 2020.

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My thoughts:

From reading news articles and also through my observations, I realized a number of people still aren’t aware of the modes of transmission for the COVID-19 virus. Or, they may be aware but be unconcerned about COVID-19 infections.

The common modes of infection are through wounds(the loss of protective skin barrier allow the bacteria/virus to enter easily), ingestion, breathing, transmission of bodily fluids and physical contact.

The COVID-19 virus is mainly spread by close physical contact through droplets of fluids released from coughing, sneezing and also, talking. As these droplets are released, they can be accidentally ingested or breathed in as the bacteria lingers in the air.

Another transmission, less common than the one stated above, is through transmission of the bacteria inside vital external organs. When a Corona-infected person coughs, their saliva lands onto a surface. This surface is then, contaminated by the bacteria, and when another person touches this surface and directly touches their eyes, nose, or mouth without sterilizing their hands, they can also be contaminated with the disease. The virus is the most contagious in the first three days after symptoms are present.

A common symptom of COVID-19 patients is ARDS(Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), which is when the lungs are damaged, causing fluids(such as mucus, saliva, blood, etc.) to leak into the alveoli, which are like tiny air sacs. Alveoli are the sites for gaseous exchange, and since the alveoli are flooded with the fluids, the patient faces a shortness of breath.

I did a brief research about the success rates of a double lung transplant and they were lower than I had expected(between 55%~70%). I’m glad that her surgery was successful, and I really hope she can walk out of the hospital healthily with a strong pair of lungs.

I really hope people can be aware of this deadly disease, and not ignore it. We all should wear masks to minimize transmission of bacteria from coughs, sneezes, talking, sanitize our hands whenever we can, and minimize physical contact.

-Joanna Kim, June 17, 2020 , 3:14PM KST