Doctors from east China’s Jiangsu province performed double lung transplant surgery for two COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province.
Cui Zhiqiang, 65, developed fever symptoms on January 23, and was diagnosed with novel coronavirus pneumonia on February 7. His condition deteriorated rapidly on February 17.
In the more than 60 days of treatment in the hospital, he developed irreversible pulmonary fibrosis due to virus attack while his other organs were intact. Multiple nucleic acid tests showed negative, making lung transplantation possible.
Jiao Yahui, Supervisory Commissioner, Medical Administration Bureau of National Health Commission
It is not suitable for lung transplantation if the patient's systemic infection is not cured. So the surgery is possible only when the virus has been removed from the patient.
On April 20, a hospital in Wuhan obtained the lung source of a brain-dead patient in Yunnan. The expert team completed the double lung transplantation operation in more than 6 hours.
44 hours after the surgery, the patient was removed of the ventilator and regained consciousness.
Chen Jingyu, vice president of Wuxi People's Hospital
Now his oxygenation index has reached more than 400 to restore the function of a normal person's lungs.
Chen, head of the lung transplantation expert team of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, also performed the world's first double lung transplant for a COVID-19 patient in Wuxi in March.
On April 24th, the expert team completed the second lung transplantation for another COVID-19 patient in Wuhan. This patient maintained his life on the ventilator and ECMO for 72 days before the operation. At present, the recipient has regained consciousness with stable vital signs and good lung function.
Chen Jingyu, vice president of Wuxi People's Hospital
It is unheard of in the world that a patient who relies on ECMO for life-sustaining for so long receives lung transplantation. Such an operation provides an experience for the world to perform lung transplantation in patients with advanced pulmonary fibrosis caused by viruses like this.
