One of the first-known “COVID to COVID” double-lung transplants

Northwestern Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital ranked Top 10 US on the U.S. News and World Report’s 2020-21 Best Hospitals is already known for their groundbreaking successful double lung transplant of a recovered COVID-19 patient, have again innovated in the care of COVID-19. 

Northwestern Medicine’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital, already recognized for their work in neurology, neurosurgery and cancer care, being  only 1 of 4 programs in the United States to receive the highest ranking of ‘exceptional’ by the National Cancer Institute; has now received a new level of innovation in care.  

Northwestern Medicine surgeons have successfully performed the first known double-lung transplant on a COVID-19 patient using lungs from a donor who previously had COVID-19. The transplant recipient, an American man in his 60s, received lungs from a donor who cleared the virus after having mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms. The donor’s death was unrelated to COVID-19 and their lungs didn’t suffer any permanent damage from the virus, making them viable for transplantation.

“This is a milestone for lung transplantation,” says Rafael Garza-Castillon, MD, thoracic surgeon on the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplant Program, who performed the procedure. “In Latin America alone, to date, over 33 million people, have had COVID-19.  The disease can result in significant damage to the lungs of the patients.  Providing lung transplantation as an option for patients who have recovered from the infection offers a potential path to recovery.  The ability to donors who have recovered after having a mild to moderate case of COVID-19 allows a great opportunity to save lives.”

To ensure the donor had cleared the virus from the body, the lung transplant team performed a test that examines the donor’s lung fluid. This same test has been performed before every lung transplant procedure at Northwestern Memorial Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team also performs a lung biopsy in the operating room to make sure there’s no permanent damage to the donor lung.

“Studies have shown that if your nasal swab is negative 8-10 days out of your COVID-19 symptoms you don’t have any live virus in your airways, but that nasal swab doesn’t confirm if you’ve cleared the virus from your lungs,” explains Dr. Bharat. “We can’t rely on a nasal swab alone to see if the donor has cleared the virus – we have to check the lung fluid. If the swab and lung fluid both come back clear of the virus and the lung biopsy confirms there’s no permanent damage to the lungs, we can feel confident in the quality of the donor lungs. Our first ‘COVID to COVID’ patient received beautiful, healthy lungs and continues to recover at optimal pace.”

The patient, who works in health care, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in May 2020 and suffered permanent lung damage. He was placed on a ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a life support machine that does the work of the heart and lungs, before being transferred to Northwestern Memorial and the surgical team was relentless in their quest to give the patient a second chance at life, and we wanted to give him every option.  After spending one week on the transplant wait-list, the patient received the life-saving procedure in February, becoming one of the first-known COVID-19 survivors to receive lungs from a donor who recovered from the virus.

“Current consensus guidelines are that donors with a history of COVID-19 can be used for organ transplantation as long as they have clinically recovered and have negative testing,” says Michael Ison, MD, infectious diseases and organ transplantation specialist at Northwestern Medicine. “But currently, many transplant centers are worried about the risk of transmission of COVID-19 from donors, particularly for lung transplants, and are unnecessarily discarding these organs. This donor clarifies the safety of the use of these donors.”

Since the start of the pandemic, Northwestern Medicine surgeons have completed over 14 double-lung transplants on COVID-19 survivors – the most performed at any hospital in the world.  Their first double-lung transplant for a COVID-19 patient happened in June 2020, which was the first-known time in the United States.

“We’re optimistic that all of these patients will make a full recovery.  It is our hope that they may soon return to their daily lives,” says Rafael Garza-Castillon, MD, thoracic surgeon on the Lung Transplant Team. “As the global cases continue to grow, there is ongoing concern about the need for lung transplantation in the future.  We are seeing more and more survivors of COVID-19.  These patients are often still battling the long term impacts of the disease and the demand for transplantation will continue to grow.  With this increasing demand for transplant, we must think differently and not immediately disregard organ donors who had mild cases and fully recovered from COVID-19.”

Patients seeking life-saving care, can be assured by the experience and innovation at Northwestern Medicine.  International patients are supported by a dedicated, multilingual team that understands how stressful medical travel can be on a patient and their loved ones.  We provide comprehensives support to meet the unique needs of patients with experience serving patients from over 100 countries. You will be welcomed with compassion and care.

Northwestern Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL is ranked in the Top 10 US on the U.S. News and World Report’s 2020-21 Best Hospitals. It is nationally ranked in 11 adult specialties and is an integrated healthcare system committed to superior quality, academic excellence, scientific discovery and patient safety.

www. https://www.nm.org/