Lung Transplant Could Be a Solution for COVID Patients, But Doctors Still Aren’t Certain of the Long-Term Outcomes

COVID infection is certainly not the same for everyone. Some people die, and others who get cured go through a living hell. In the case of the latter category, it seemed like just a matter of time until lung transplant will come into consideration, as those organs are affected by the disease.

According to Inquirer.com, researchers have begun to have some faith in lung transplants for some COVID patients. Those folks seem to be ok after surgery, similar to those who need new lungs for different reasons. However, doctors still need to learn more about the long-term effects of lung transplants for people who suffer from COVID.

Lung transplants for COVID patients remain rare

It’s still unknown how such transplants will impact a COVID patient’s life after the surgery itself. Norihisa Shigemura, who’s a physician from the Temple University Hospital, brings a simple explanation, as quoted by Inquirer.com:

No institution has that long-time survival data because it started earliest 2020 March or April,

It’s still too early to say whether this will bring a long-term benefit or not.

The survival rate for people undergoing lung transplants, in general, is somewhere around 95%. According to a new study from the New England Journal of Medicine, about the same survival rate applies in the case of COVID patients who went through lung transplants during more than 12 months: between August 2020 and through September 2021. However, the study also brings a bad statistic: 2% of those COVID patients in need of new lungs died in the first 30 days after the transplants.

According to information brought by worldometers.info, there have been over 397.6 million COVID infections worldwide since the ongoing pandemic began. Also, more than 5.7 million people lost their lives in the battle with COVID, and hopefully, they left this world for a better one.