Khaberni - In an unprecedented medical achievement, doctors and surgeons in the United States succeeded in keeping a man in critical condition alive for a full 48 hours without lungs while he was awaiting a double lung transplant, in a step described as potentially opening new horizons for saving selected patients suffering from severe lung failure.
A medical team from Northwestern University in the US, according to the journal "Med", developed an advanced system called the Total Artificial Lung (TAL) system, which oxygenates the blood just as natural lungs do, in addition to managing blood flow and protecting the heart muscle from failure.
The use of this system was crucial in stabilizing the patient's condition and preparing him to receive lungs from a donor. Medical follow-up showed that more than two years after the procedure, the patient recovered completely, with his implanted lungs functioning at normal efficiency.
The therapeutic approach
Chest surgeon on the medical team, Ankit Bharat, stated that the patient contracted a severe lung infection that was untreatable with any antibiotics due to complete resistance to available treatments. He illustrated that the infection led to the liquefaction of the lung tissues before beginning to spread to other organs in the body.
Bharat mentioned that the usual therapeutic approach in such cases relies on an artificial respirator and giving the lungs sufficient time to recover. However, this case was exceptional as the lungs themselves became the primary source of infection, making their retention a direct risk to the patient's life.
He disclosed that the medical team faced two grim options: the patient was at risk of dying if the lungs were not removed; simultaneously, removing both lungs was an extremely risky procedure, which often leads to heart failure due to disturbed blood flow.
To overcome this challenge, the medical team developed the TAL system with dual blood flow channels and a bypass adaptable to changes in flow, allowing for blood pressure regulation and heart protection. This enabled the doctors to keep the patient alive long enough for his body to recover from the infection and become eligible for the lung transplant.
Chronic Diseases
After the lung removal, signs of recovery from the infection began to appear, confirming that the primary source of danger had been eliminated. Subsequently, the team performed a molecular analysis of the removed lungs, revealing no chance of them autonomously recovering from acute respiratory distress syndrome due to extensive scarring and severe immune damage.
Bharat affirmed that this experience proves that lung transplantation can be a life-saving option even in acute cases arising from severe respiratory infections, not just in chronic diseases.
Although building the TAL system to these specifications is still only possible in specialized medical centers, Bharat expressed hope that the innovations used in this case might be incorporated into standard medical devices in the future, expanding opportunities for patient survival.
