Groote Schuur hospital performs 1st bilateral lung transplant
Groote Schuur Hospital repeated history yesterday when the first bilateral sequential lung transplant was performed in the Western Cape and the state sector nationally.
Twenty-five years after the first unilateral transplant, a 38-year-old woman with a severe airflow obstruction, secondary to childhood respiratory viral infection, is now breathing comfortably with her new lungs. Doctors are happy with her progress and said so far all the parameters look promising.
Before the operation, Dr Greg Calligaro, a specialist pulmonologist, and Dr Tim Pennel, a cardiothoracic surgeon, went abroad to learn more about the difficult procedure.
“This is the last of the solid organ transplants that is gaining traction and it is the hardest. The lungs have a surface area of 70m2, that’s about half a tennis court, so they receive a massive blood supply.”
He said the fact that lungs were in contact with the outside world added to the challenge. “The barrier to the outside is very thin. Lungs are exposed to all viruses, bacterias and pathogens. We have to be very careful how we match the donor and recipient as infections are common in lung transplants.”
He said globally there is a long waiting list for donors.
Source: iol.co.za