CHICAGO (CBS)– Surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital performed a double lung transplant on a patient whose lungs were irreversibly damaged by COVID-19.
The patient is a woman in her twenties, who spent six weeks on a ventilator. Doctors said for many days, she was the sickest patient in the COVID ICU and possibly the entire hospital.
READ MORE: 5 Killed, 18 Wounded In Chicago Weekend ShootingsThe transplant was her only hope for survival and she had to be clear of the virus before it could be performed.
READ MORE: Chicago Weather: Colder And Blustery Sunday NightNorthwestern is one of the first health systems to successfully perform the double lung transplant on a COVID patient.
MORE NEWS: Shedd Aquarium Asks Restaurants To Help Keep Plastic Out Of Great LakesThe surgeons say they hope their success will spur other hospitals to offer the procedure.