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Surgeons transplanting two new lungs in a life-saving operation on an Edmonton man faced an unprecedented complication last fall when they discovered the organs they had just transferred were infected with H1N1 flu virus, a new report has revealed.
Michael Cunningham appears to be the first double-lung transplant patient in the world to have contracted the pandemic virus as he underwent the complex procedure, his doctors say.
Patients with underlying breathing problems face the greatest risk from the swine flu, and the infection presented a major challenge for the medical team.
Transplant patients are pumped full of drugs to actually suppress their immune systems. Designed to ease acceptance of someone else?s organs, the medication made fighting a potentially deadly flu that much more dicey.
?It?s a really unique case,? said Dr. Mohammed Al-Aklabi, a University of Alberta surgeon and lead author of a paper just published on the case. ?Patients who are already sick with other problems and get H1N1, they are at higher risk of dying.?
Mr. Cunningham said his reaction was ?holy cow? when he learned he had the new flu.
An aggressive course of anti-viral drugs beat back the infection, and helped contribute to a full recovery.
In fact, the transplant has transformed his life, he said, making him feel like ?a new man.? The disease COPD had left him desperately short of breath, lacking energy to carry out the most basic chore and all but chained to an oxygen tank. Even a walk down his apartment hallway was excruciating.
Almost instantly after the transplant, the Edmonton man could breathe easily. Soon he was hiking for hours at a time.
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Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/can...#ixzz0tXQ61LKs
Michael Cunningham appears to be the first double-lung transplant patient in the world to have contracted the pandemic virus as he underwent the complex procedure, his doctors say.
Patients with underlying breathing problems face the greatest risk from the swine flu, and the infection presented a major challenge for the medical team.
Transplant patients are pumped full of drugs to actually suppress their immune systems. Designed to ease acceptance of someone else?s organs, the medication made fighting a potentially deadly flu that much more dicey.
?It?s a really unique case,? said Dr. Mohammed Al-Aklabi, a University of Alberta surgeon and lead author of a paper just published on the case. ?Patients who are already sick with other problems and get H1N1, they are at higher risk of dying.?
Mr. Cunningham said his reaction was ?holy cow? when he learned he had the new flu.
An aggressive course of anti-viral drugs beat back the infection, and helped contribute to a full recovery.
In fact, the transplant has transformed his life, he said, making him feel like ?a new man.? The disease COPD had left him desperately short of breath, lacking energy to carry out the most basic chore and all but chained to an oxygen tank. Even a walk down his apartment hallway was excruciating.
Almost instantly after the transplant, the Edmonton man could breathe easily. Soon he was hiking for hours at a time.
...
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/can...#ixzz0tXQ61LKs