iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
An Indian-origin doctor in the US and his team has successfully completed a ‘double-lung transplant’ of a COVID-19 patient.
According to Dr Ankit Bharat it is the first of its kind surgery where a Covid-19 infected patient’s lung were transplanted into another victim of the disease whose lungs were irreversibly damaged.
The receiver was a 60-year-old health worker, whose lungs had been damaged due to the disease and he was on a ventilator. The donor, who had recovered from the contagious disease, had died in an accident a few days ago.
“There has been a debate if a Covid-19 patient can be a lung donor.
” This transplant has opened gates to many more similar surgeries,” said Dr Bharat, who was born and brought up in Meerut.
The team of surgeons conducted the operation at Northwestern Medical Center, Chicago last week.
“All the safety measures were taken. It was checked that the donor’s lung was not damaged. Also, the lung fluid was tested to ensure that the organ was clear of Covid-19 infection. Once the tests came normal, we decided to proceed with the transplant,” said Dr Bharat, who insisted that this shows that the organs of a Covid-19 positive patient can still be used for a transplant.
The health worker got infected with Covid-19 in May 2020. And for the last few months he was on a ventilator.
According to a report published in the renowned journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the first successful lung transplant of a donor who suffered from Covid-19 was conducted at Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven in Belgium in December 2020.
But, the surgery performed by Dr Bharat was first of its kind because not only did it involve a Covid-19 donor, but the organ receiver was also a patient of the disease.
Dr Bharat, an alumnus of St Mary’s Academy in Meerut, and his team were also the first in the US to conduct a double lung transplant on a woman whose lungs were damaged by Covid-19.
