A man survives two days without lungs

BarcelonaFor years, scientists have been pursuing new methods to replace the function of vital organs because it is key to ensuring patient survival in certain operations, such as heart transplants. In Catalonia, we have had an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine for years. This extremely sophisticated device replaces the function of the heart or lungs. It is used in critically ill patients with severe heart or respiratory failure, as the machine temporarily replaces the function of the lungs or heart, allowing the organs to rest. Until now, however, the function of a vital organ had never been replicated in a person who lacked that vital organ. For the first time, a team of American scientists has saved the life of a man with a very serious lung disease who needed a double transplant and who spent two days without lungs thanks to an artificial lung that kept him alive until he received new organs.

The scientific journal Med The study published the case of a 33-year-old man who had acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening condition in which inflammation and infection overwhelm the lungs. The syndrome was triggered by the flu and worsened with bacterial pneumonia, which caused such a severe infection that his lungs were irreversibly damaged. His heart and kidneys also began to fail, and in fact, he was already critically ill when he arrived at the hospital. "His heart stopped as soon as he arrived, and we had to perform CPR," recalls Ankit Bharat, a thoracic surgeon at Northwestern University in Chicago and lead author of the study.

Good lung function

The patient's only option for survival was a double lung transplant, but he was so ill that his body couldn't accept the new lungs; he needed time to recover. "The heart and lungs are intrinsically connected. Without lungs, how do you keep the patient alive?" Bharat asks. Faced with this challenge, the team designed an extracorporeal pulmonary system, like an artificial lung outside the body, which temporarily replaced lung function while he recovered. The system oxygenated the blood, removed carbon dioxide, and helped maintain stable blood flow through the heart and body.

Once the infected lungs were removed, his health began to improve, his blood pressure stabilized, organ function recovered, and the infection subsided. Two days later, the hospital obtained lungs from a donor, and surgeons performed a double lung transplant. Two years have passed since this scientific milestone, and the patient now lives a normal life with good lung function.