Doctors save woman’s life by removing her lungs for 6 days

January 26, 2017

Melissa Benoit had just hours to live when she was rushed to hospital in April
She was immediately placed on a ventilator to make sure that she could breathe
Her only chance of survival was to have a transplant as her condition worsened
Bacteria in her lungs had become antibiotic-resistant – causing her organs to fail
Surgeons were forced to attempt a world first in order to eliminate the infection

Stephen Matthews For Mailonline

Published:
07:15 EST, 26 January 2017

|
Updated:
07:34 EST, 26 January 2017

e-mail

View
comments

A 32-year-old mother had her life-saved by doctors after they removed her lungs for six days while she waited for a transplant.

Melissa Benoit had just hours to live when she was rushed to Toronto General Hospital with a severe infection in April.

She was immediately placed on a ventilator to help her breathe as surgeons warned her only chance of survival was a transplant as her condition continued to worsen.

Her organs began to fail after bacteria in her lungs became resistant to most antibiotics – causing her to go into septic shock.

But in what is believed to be a world’s first, doctors removed her lungs to try and eliminate the infection while waiting for donor organs to become available, The Guardian reports.

Melissa Benoit had just hours to live when she was rushed to Toronto General Hospital with a severe infection in April

Dr Niall Ferguson, from the health authority responsible for the hospital, said: ‘It was a difficult discussion because when we’re talking about something that had never to our knowledge been done before, there were a lot of unknowns.

Doctors were concerned over whether her vital levels could be maintained if they decided to remove her lungs.

Girl, 3, with a rare 5lb tumour eating away at her face…

Mother-of-three, 37, with a facial birthmark is too…

Health of children endangered by alarming gap between rich…

Fat shaming could be lethal: Stigma against obese people…

While they were also forced to weigh up the risk of her dying from internal bleeding.

After consulting her husband, Chris, they decided to go ahead with the procedure, knowing she had just hours left.

But in what is believed to be a world’s first, doctors removed her lungs to try and eliminate the infection while waiting for donor organs to become available

Dr Shaf Keshavjee, who operated on Ms Benoit, said: ‘That gave us the courage to say, if we’re ever going to save this woman, we’re going to do it now.’

A team of 13 surgeons worked together to remove her lungs from within her chest – using an artificial one in its place.

But its effect were noticed immediately, helping to restore her blood pressure to a normal rate.

Surgeons managed to find a pair of donor organs just six days later, allowing them to complete a successful transplant.

Ms Benoit, after finding out what had happened, said: ‘It took me a while to realise what happened. I just couldn’t piece it together.

‘You really come from the brink of death to back living at home. But I’m just so grateful, so happy to be home.’