US EditionNorthwestern Surgeons Keep Man Alive 48 Hours Without Lungs Using Artificial System
A 33-year-old man with severe influenza-triggered ARDS survived 48 hours on an external total artificial lung system before receiving a double lung transplant.
- Recently, Ankit Bharat, MD, at Northwestern described removing a patient's lungs and supporting him with an artificial system for 48 hours, reported in Med.
- The patient, a 33-year-old man, developed acute respiratory distress syndrome after the flu worsened by bacterial pneumonia, causing irreversibly damaged lungs that fueled infection and required a double lung transplant.
- Using an engineered flow-adaptive total artificial lung system with a pulmonary artery‑to‑right atrium shunt, the team performed bilateral pneumonectomy, then discontinued vasopressors within 12 hours as serum lactate fell from 8.2 to less than 1.0 mmol/L within 24 hours.
- After the procedure, the patient's blood pressure stabilized and organ function recovered while infection subsided, and the patient returned to daily life more than two years later with good lung function.
- Experts note the technique remains experimental and urge multicenter registries and biomarkers for patients with severe ARDS complicated by necrotizing pneumonia and septic shock, whose mortality rate exceeds 80%; the study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
52 Articles
52 Articles
Artificial Lungs Keep Man Alive for Two Days Before Transplant
Surgeons at Northwestern Medicine perform a life-saving procedure. Credit: Northwestern Medicine Surgeons have reported a rare medical case in which artificial lungs kept a man alive for two days after doctors removed both of his diseased lungs, buying crucial time until donor organs became available. The case was led by Ankit Bharat, a lung transplant surgeon, and was published Jan. 29 in the medical journal Med. Researchers say the case shows …
A 33-year-old man survived 48 hours without lungs in the United States thanks to an unprecedented medical procedure developed by Northwestern University specialists. The patient remained alive while doctors were fighting a fulminant infection and awaiting the arrival of compatible organs for a double lung transplant. The case occurred in 2023 and the results were published on January 29 in the scientific journal Med of the Cell Press group. The …
A medical team managed to keep a 33-year-old man alive for 48 hours without lungs until it was possible to perform a double lung transplant, according to a study published in the magazine Med de Cell Press, collected by the German media Deutsche Welle. The feat was made possible by the introduction of an extracorporeal lung system, designed as a temporary “lifebridge” to replace the functions of the lungs. Read also...
MedPage Today
Anti-Aging, Acupuncture and Health NewsAn Infection 'Melted' a Man's Lungs. This Novel ECMO Strategy Helped Keep Him Alive.
(MedPage Today) -- In a patient whose lungs liquefied due to infection, a novel "total artificial lung" approach provided extracorporeal support until donor organs became available for bilateral lung transplantation, researchers reported. The...
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