Three years ago, a man was kept alive for 48 hours with no lungs at all. Instead, his breathing was supported by an external artificial lung system until he could undergo a double lung transplant. This is reported by Nature, based on a new study published in the medical journal Med.
The man, who was suffering from influenza, was in a life-threatening condition in which his lungs were no longer absorbing sufficient oxygen and he was therefore placed on a ventilator. His condition deteriorated rapidly following a drug-resistant infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The lungs filled with pus, the patient developed sepsis, and both heart and kidney function began to fail.
BREAKING