RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- World’s First Robotic Double Lung Transplant: Surgeons carried out the primary totally robotic double lung transplant on a 57-year-old COPD affected person utilizing the da Vinci Xi robotic system.
- Minimally Invasive Method: The process utilized small incisions and robotic know-how for each stage, aiming to cut back affected person ache and restoration time whereas bettering surgical outcomes.
- Innovation in Lung Transplantation: This builds on earlier robotic transplant milestones and highlights the potential for robotic strategies to rework affected person care in advanced surgical procedures.
A surgical group at NYU Langone Well being has carried out what they are saying is the primary totally robotic double lung transplant on this planet.
Stephanie H. Chang, MD, affiliate professor within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgical procedure at NYU Grossman College of Drugs and surgical director of the Lung Transplant Program for the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, led the minimally invasive process. Her group transplanted each lungs right into a 57-year-old lady with persistent obstructive pulmonary illness (COPD) utilizing the da Vinci Xi robotic system at every stage.
Small incisions had been made between the ribs then the robotic system was used to take away the lung, put together the surgical web site for implantation, and implant the brand new lung. Each lungs had been transplanted utilizing these robotic strategies.
The transplant was carried out on Oct 22, 2024, simply 4 days after affected person Cheryl Mehrkar was added to the lung transplant checklist following a number of months of analysis by Jake G. Natalini, MD, assistant professor within the Division of Drugs’s Division of Pulmonary, Important Care and Sleep Drugs, and Luis F. Angel, MD, medical director of lung transplantation for the NYU Langone Transplant Institute.
Chang was assisted by Travis C. Geraci, MD, assistant professor within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgical procedure, and Eugene A. Grossi, MD, the Stephen B. Colvin, MD, Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgical procedure.
Affected person Receives Robotic Double-Lung Transplant
“I’m so grateful to the donor and their household for giving me one other probability at life,” says Mehrkar in a launch. “For a very long time, I used to be instructed I wasn’t sick sufficient for a transplant. The group at NYU Langone Well being centered my high quality of life as a precedence, and I’m so grateful to the docs and nurses right here for giving me hope.”
Mehrkar, who inherited a genetic predisposition to lung illness, was identified with COPD in 2010 at 43 years outdated. Her situation worsened after a bout with COVID-19 in 2022. All through her life, she has been an energetic thrill-seeker, touring the world as a scuba divemaster, changing into an avid motorcyclist, and incomes her karate black belt along with her husband, Shahin. The couple owned a dojo for over 20 years, and he or she had a ardour for educating earlier than her well being sidelined her. After retiring from karate, she turned a volunteer emergency medical technician with the Union Vale Hearth Division in Dutchess County, New York. She stays energetic within the division to present again to her neighborhood.
“It is without doubt one of the biggest privileges to have the ability to assist sufferers return to a wholesome high quality of life,” says Chang in a launch. “By utilizing these robotic methods, we purpose to cut back the affect this main surgical procedure has on sufferers, restrict their postoperative ache, and provides them the very best final result. It couldn’t occur right here with out a proficient group of surgeons and an establishment devoted to transferring transplantation ahead.”
A month earlier, NYU Langone introduced Chang carried out the primary totally robotic single lung transplant within the nation.
Innovation in Transplant Surgical procedure
“This newest breakthrough in robotic surgical procedure speaks to the tradition of innovation we’ve constructed by bringing essentially the most proficient individuals of their fields collectively,” says Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, the H. Leon Pachter, MD, professor of surgical procedure, chair of the Division of Surgical procedure, and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, in a launch. “Our Transplant Institute group pushes the sphere ahead to raised serve our sufferers and ship the lifesaving care they want with the very best affected person expertise.”
The NYU Langone Transplant Institute carried out 76 lung transplants in 2023 and was rated finest within the nation for lung survival after transplant and for getting sufferers off the waitlist the quickest by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, a nationwide high quality tracker overseen by the US Division of Well being and Human Companies.
“We’re grateful to have a few of the most proficient surgeons on this planet who break limitations and push the boundaries of what’s doable for our sufferers,” says Ralph S. Mosca, MD, the Henry H. Arnhold Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgical procedure, professor within the Departments of Cardiothoracic Surgical procedure and Pediatrics at NYU Grossman College of Drugs, and director of the Pediatric Congenital Coronary heart Program at Hassenfeld Youngsters’s Hospital at NYU Langone, in a launch. “This newest innovation is a watershed second in lung transplantation surgical procedure worldwide and only the start of a brand new period in affected person care.”
Photograph caption: Shahin Mehrkar (left) and his spouse Cheryl Mehrkar, who obtained the world’s first totally robotic double lung transplant surgical procedure on Oct 22, 2024, at NYU Langone Well being, with Stephanie H. Chang, MD, affiliate professor within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgical procedure at NYU Grossman College of Drugs and surgical director of the Lung Transplant Program for the NYU Langone Transplant Institute.
Photograph credit score: NYU Langone Well being
