COVID-19 patients undergo successful lung transplants in China

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

At least six COVID-19 patients have undergone lung transplants in China as a final option to save virus patients in critical condition, with medical costs totaling more than 7 million Yuan ($1.1 million) taken care of by the state.

The health experts recognized that this act was another reflection of China’s commitment of saving human lives with every possible means, 

The COVID-19 patients who received lung transplants ranged from 55 to 73 years of age, Huang Jiefu, head of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and chairman of the China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation, told the Global Times at an event concerning Chinese organ donation. 

Huang said that the organ transplants are the final option to save COVID-19 patients in critical condition. "Lung transplants are the last choice for those who cannot be saved by respirators or ECMO machines," he remarked, noting that there were certain standards patients had to meet before undergoing transplant. 

Only those who suffered lung failure after recovering from the virus can undergo lung transplant while the doctors have to be highly protected in case of infection. 

Chen Jingyu, a renowned lung transplant expert, who performed China's first double-lung transplant on a novel coronavirus patient, revealed that before the first operation, he and his team were not sure whether lung transplants were a feasible way to cure patients as the virus was highly contagious. 

"But later, although these patients tested negative for the virus, it had caused lung fibrosis and they would have died had effective measures not been taken," he narrated. 

On February 29, he performed China's first double-lung transplant on a COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Later in March, he successfully replaced a 73-year-old COVID-19 patient's lung. 

Chen shared that operating on patients was a greater challenge as many had contracted the virus earlier and been hospitalized longer than patients elsewhere in China. 

Despite the great difficulties, Chen and his team successfully performed organ transplants for two patients in Wuhan, one of them 65-year-old Cui Zhiqiang who had been breathing with the assistance of an ECMO machine for more than 60 days. Chen added that the risk and cost of performing an organ transplant on a COVID-19 patient was much higher than a normal organ transplant. 

"The medical personnel were highly protected. We even wore headgear, which made it impossible for us to communicate during the operations. After a surgery was complete, a patient required 24 hours of nonstop medical observation. The cost is incalculable." 

According to Huang, each patient's treatment cost 1.24 million Yuan, and their expenses were covered entirely by the government. "I believe this shows how the Chinese government has prioritized people's lives, and how it will utilize every means to save lives," he highlighted. 

Chen stated that his paper on lung transplants for COVID-19 patients has drawn international attention. His team held video conferences in April with medical experts from Duke University in the US. Medics from Cleveland in the US and Milan in Italy have also asked him how to select COVID-19 patients for lung transplant and how to protect patients and surgeons during the operations.

In late May, doctors in Milan successfully completed a double lung transplant on a novel coronavirus patient, marking the first such operation in Italy. The doctor immediately contacted Chen, expressing gratitude for his inspiration.