Overview
- A 33-year-old man survived for two days without lungs after surgeons removed both infected organs and supported him with a total artificial lung before a double-lung transplant.
- The system oxygenated blood, cleared carbon dioxide, and maintained continuous, balanced cardiac filling, a capability the team distinguishes from conventional ECMO.
- The patient’s lung failure began with influenza B–triggered ARDS complicated by drug‑resistant Pseudomonas necrotizing pneumonia and septic shock, with organ function improving after lung removal.
- Single‑cell and spatial molecular analyses of the explanted lungs showed widespread scarring and immune injury consistent with irreversible damage, supporting the need for transplantation.
- The Med publication reports sustained recovery more than two years post‑transplant and notes that broader adoption will require standardized protocols, registries, biomarker validation, and multicenter studies at specialized centers.