First lung transplant in Wuhan for a critical and elderly COVID-19 patient

Wang, Bo; Huang, Jie; Hsin, Micheal; Chen, Jingyu; Lin, Huiqing

INTRODUCTION: We report the case of a 65-year-old Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient with pneumonia and subsequent end-stage pulmonary failure who required 63 days of mechanical ventilation (MV) and 62 days of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). METHODS: On Day 45, a comprehensive interdisciplinary discussion on the best course of treatment resulted in the general consensus that his lungs would not recover. As such, he was evaluated and listed for a lung transplant. RESULTS: We performed a bilateral lung transplant, and the patient was weaned off ECMO and MV postoperatively. This is the first report of lung transplants in patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that a lung transplantation may be a viable treatment for patients with end-stage pulmonary failure secondary to COVID-19 in selected situations.