A doctor in the Indian city of Bangalore had to undergo a double lung transplant after the organ damages in COVID-19.
An anesthetist at a private hospital in Bangalore, Dr. Sanath Kumar, 30, had contracted the virus while on front-line duty.
His illness caused his oxygen levels to drop rapidly after severe damage to his lungs requiring an urgent transplant surgery.
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The doctor was put on a ventilator before being referred to Aster CMI Hospital in Bangalore, where he was kept under close observation for more than three weeks before the double lung transplant.
Dr V Arun, lead consultant for anesthesia and critical care at Aster CMI Hospital, said that the transplant was the “last option” and the “case was both emotionally and clinically challenging.”
The patient was earlier intubated and was on 100 per cent oxygen support before the transplant and has been stable over the next few weeks.
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Kumar was kept under close observation for more than three weeks before the lung transplant and a team of critical care consultants, pulmonologists and lung transplant surgeons lead the procedure in Bangalore.
Doctors said that a double lung transplant is a grueling surgery. (AW)
