An innovative surgical procedure combining breast implants and an artificial lung may help more patients with severe lung disease survive to receive transplants. The case was described in a press conference sponsored by Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
In May 2023, a surgical team at Northwestern removed both infected lungs from David "Davey" Bauer, aged 34 years, and temporarily used double D breast implants to hold his heart in place until new lungs were available.
David Bauer's new lungs (left) and old lungs (right).
In April 2023, Bauer, a longtime smoker and vaper, experienced shortness of breath. His girlfriend, Susan Gore, took him to an urgent care center, and he returned home, but "the next morning he couldn't walk," Gore said in the press conference. A trip to the emergency department yielded a diagnosis of influenza A, followed rapidly by a bacterial lung infection that proved resistant to antibiotics. Bauer had no prior medical history of serious illness, but he was soon in an intensive care unit (ICU). His condition continued to decline, and a double lung transplant was his only option.
The Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute specializes in challenging cases, and Bauer was transferred there.
Back From the Brink
Bauer made the transfer to Chicago despite being critically ill. He was in dire need of a lung transplant, and the only way to resolve his infection was to remove the lungs, said Ankit Bharat, MD, chief of thoracic surgery and director of Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute, in the press conference.
