Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus . Northwestern Medicine on Thursday an

Young Chicago woman with coronavirus receives double lung transplant

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2020-06-12 13:36:49

Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus . Northwestern Medicine on Thursday announced the procedure, which took place last Friday.

Only a few other COVID-19 survivors, in China and Europe, have received lung transplants. CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports the procedure at Northwestern Memorial Hospital marks the first successful double lung transplant of a COVID-19 patient in the U.S.

The Chicago patient is in her 20s and was on a ventilator and heart-lung machine for almost two months before her operation. The 10-hour procedure was challenging because the virus had left her lungs full of holes and almost fused to the chest wall, said Dr. Ankit Bharat, who performed the operation.

She remains on a ventilator while her body heals but is well enough to visit with family via phone video and doctors say her chances for a normal life are good.