Surgeons in Northwestern University, in the United States, has done something remarkable, according to Science Daily and Tekniikan maailma. A 33-year-old man survived for two days without his lungs. A research article about this feat was published in a scientific journal called Med.
It all started as a common flu, that quickly became worse: a bacterial pneumonia. The infection caused a severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which completely destroyed his lungs and led to failure of his heart, kidneys and other organs.
Because his lungs were irreversibly destroyed and actively spreading the infection to the rest of his body, it was up to a thoracic surgeon, Ankit Bharat, to make a decision: both lungs were completely removed. The patient was kept alive by an extracorporeal artificial lung system, that temporarily took over as the man's lungs. The device oxygenated the blood, removed carbon dioxide, and supported blood circulation.
After those lungs were removed, the patient's condition began to improve. His blood pressure stabilised, other organs began to recover, and the infection was brought under control. Two days later, a suitable donor for new lungs were found, and a double lung transplant could be successfully performed. And now, more than two years after the surgery, the man is living a normal life with functioning lungs.
As expected, the method is only possible in highly equipped specialist hospitals - at least for now - but Bharat hopes that the method will develop into a more widely used treatment.