Artificial organ keeps patient alive for 48 hours after removal of bilateral lungs

A doctor checks a lung CT image as a visiting patient looks on. [AFP]

A groundbreaking case published this week in the journal Med reported the successful use of an external, artificial lung system to sustain a critically ill patient for 48 hours after the complete removal of both lungs, which won enough time for the patient to have lung transplants.

In spring 2023, a 33-year-old male patient diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the United States.

The patient's condition escalated into necrotising pneumonia and overwhelming sepsis.

Despite being placed on a ventilator, his condition kept deteriorating, and he had to face renal failure and cardiac arrest as a consequence.

Facing the rare clinical dilemma, the medical team led by thoracic surgeon Dr Ankit Bharat at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago decided to support the patient with a newly developed artificial lung system, after removing the patient's infected lungs.

The patient's condition began to improve within just 48 hours.

Bharat observed that the man's kidney function was completely restored and his heart returned to normal.

He no longer required any medication to support his blood pressure.

The patient later received a successful double lung transplant and has not experienced any signs of organ rejection or impaired lung function to this day.

Dr Natasha Rogers, a transplant clinician at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia, commented that the engineering behind the artificial lung system is remarkable and the team involved was "very brave."

Dr Bharat expressed hope that such life-saving technology would be increasingly accessible for critically ill patients awaiting lung transplants.

However, Rogers emphasised that implementing this approach requires multiple specialised teams, because only large hospitals would be capable of deploying it.

Therefore, the application of this system remains limited.