U.S. surgeons perform first successful double lung transplant on COVID-19 patient

CHICAGO (CNN Newsource) – A young woman whose lungs were destroyed by the coronavirus receives a double lung transplant.

Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago performed the 10-hour surgery last week.

The operation was more difficult than most because the woman, who is in her 20’s, had lungs that were completely plastered to the tissue around them.

The patient had no serious underlying medical conditions and is recovering well, but she has a long way to go.

She is on a ventilator because the illness left her chest muscles too weak for breathing.

This is the first known lung transplant in the United States for a patient with COVID-19.