W/Photo - Women survives COVID-19 w/Double Lung Transplant

  • Context: COVID 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom.G
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Covid-19 Women
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of COVID-19 on lung health, particularly in the context of a woman who survived the virus after undergoing a double lung transplant. Participants explore the surgical process, the condition of lungs affected by COVID-19, and the broader impacts of the virus compared to other respiratory illnesses.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express concern about the severity of COVID-19 and its potential to cause significant lung damage, leading to the need for transplants.
  • Questions are raised about the surgical process of double lung transplantation, including the removal of ribs and how oxygenation is managed during the procedure.
  • There are references to the complexity of the surgery due to inflammation caused by COVID-19, which made the operation more challenging than typical lung transplants.
  • Some participants discuss the appearance of the lungs post-transplant and speculate on the health of lifelong smokers compared to the patient in question.
  • Others mention reports of long-term lung function issues in COVID-19 survivors, suggesting a broader concern about the virus's impact on respiratory health.
  • One participant draws a comparison between COVID-19 and severe pneumonia from other causes, noting that the prevalence of severe cases may differ between the two.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the implications of COVID-19 on lung health or the comparisons to other respiratory illnesses. Multiple competing views and uncertainties remain regarding the severity and long-term effects of the virus.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include a lack of detailed medical knowledge among participants regarding the surgical techniques and the specific physiological impacts of COVID-19 on lung function. Some assumptions about the health of smokers and comparisons to other respiratory conditions are not fully substantiated.

Biology news on Phys.org
I would give it a Like ( well, I gave it an Informative ), but it is not pretty.
Worse than ever.
Good for her.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Tom.G
Can anyone here give any general information on how does such a double lung transplant operation go ahead?
I mean in order to get to the lungs one has to remove quite some ribs etc structures don't they ?
And how would then administer oxygen and take away CO2 from the bloostream while doing this? Do they recirculate the blood directly out from blood vessels through some manual filter element somewhat similarly to patients with failing kidneys undergoing dialysis?
 
Horrific. Poor woman
 
Tom.G said:
Funny that you used a Snopes.com link as the reference. Fortunately they marked it as "True". :wink:

That's an ugly lung. I would have guessed that it was from a life-long smoker, but apparently the patient was not a smoker. Interesting also how the virus' damage complicated the surgery...

The 10-hour surgery was more difficult and took several hours longer than most lung transplants because inflammation from the disease had left the woman’s lungs “completely plastered to tissue around them, the heart, the chest wall and diaphragm,” said Dr. Ankit Bharat, the chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of the lung transplant program at Northwestern Medicine, which includes Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in an interview.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: jim mcnamara
berkeman said:
Funny that you used a Snopes.com link as the reference. Fortunately they marked it as "True". :wink:

That's an ugly lung. I would have guessed that it was from a life-long smoker, but apparently the patient was not a smoker. Interesting also how the virus' damage complicated the surgery...
Is there anything from your side on this in terms of case studies /lancet/BMA?
 
The story is true as I found multiple sources including videos with the hospital spokespersons talking about it.
@berkeman well I would imagine that a lifelong smoker's lungs don't look this bad simply by the fact that I don't know any lifelong smoker who needs a oxygen supply apparatus to keep them alive.
Of all the smokers that I know that have died they all usually die from related problems like heart failure, high blood pressure and vessel rupture etc , cancer etc.
 
  • Informative
Likes   Reactions: pinball1970
artis said:
The story is true as I found multiple sources including videos with the hospital spokespersons talking about it.
@berkeman well I would imagine that a lifelong smoker's lungs don't look this bad simply by the fact that I don't know any lifelong smoker who needs a oxygen supply apparatus to keep them alive.
Of all the smokers that I know that have died they all usually die from related problems like heart failure, high blood pressure and vessel rupture etc , cancer etc.
There were reports out of China early doors that survivors were experiencing reduced lung function come to think of it.

This recently from the BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53065340
 
  • #10
Well I'm no expert so someone else is welcome to share a more informed view but I would imagine that if someone got a severe case of pneumonia from the regular flu he/she would also have some long lasting lung damage.
As far as I understand it's just that with Covid the people who fall so sick they reach this severe pneumonia condition is bit larger than the annual flu because Covid is also spread more easily so covers a much larger population size?
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
3K
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 47 ·
2
Replies
47
Views
10K