Japanese Doctors Say First To Transplant Living Lungs Tissue To COVID Patient - Reports

Japanese doctors from Kyoto University Hospital announced that they had successfully carried out the world's first lung transplant from living donors to a former COVID-19 patient, media reported on Thursday

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) Japanese doctors from Kyoto University Hospital announced that they had successfully carried out the world's first lung transplant from living donors to a former COVID-19 patient, media reported on Thursday.

According to the NHK news broadcaster, the patient had been treated for severe pneumonia and was on life support after contacting COVID-19 late in 2020. Though she finally tested negative for the virus, she had lost lung function due to fibrosis and had no chance of recovery.

The patient's husband and son offered to donate sections of their own lungs. The transplantation lasted nearly 11 hours, the woman is currently in intensive care and the donors are recuperating after the surgery, NHK noted.

The patient is expected to be fully rehabilitated in about three months, the hospital was cited as saying by the news.

The WHO reports 3,400 lung transplants carried out annually around the world. However, Japanese doctors claim to have carried out the first ever living lung tissue transplantation in a former COVID-19 patient. They expressed hope that their method can become a viable option for further treatments of people with severe damage to lungs caused by the virus.