Bilateral Pneumonectomy with Veno-Arterial Extracoporeal Membrane Oxygention as a Bridge to Lung Transplant

A 30-year-old cystic fibrosis (CF) male with recurrent multi-drug resistant Burkholderia multivorans infections developed persistent bacteremia, despite high-dose antibiotics for>10 days, and ventilator as well as venovenous (VV) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) dependence limiting his transplant candidacy.1,2 No non-pulmonary sources of infection were identified; his chest radiograph demonstrated significant pulmonary disease. We performed bilateral pneumonectomies to clear his infection.
Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Tags: Case Anecdotes, Comments and Opinions Source Type: research