Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Published : July 27, 2021 2:30 PM IST
Some patients may develop irreversible lung injury secondary to Covid ARDS or Lung fibrosis.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare delivery across the globe. The entire health-care delivery system had to undergo transformation to combat the spread of this highly infectious viral disease. The mandatory travel restrictions and ever-increasing COVID-19 cases have had a significant impact on the health-care delivery to the cases in all the medical and surgical specialties. The fear of contracting COVID-19 has kept people away from visiting hospitals. Consequently, timely diagnosis and care management of diseases like chronic lung diseases has seen a massive decline. Dr M S Kanwar Lead Lung Transplant and Covid Team, Senior Consultant, Department of Pulmonology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi shares challenges in lung transplant procedure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Dr Kanwar, lung transplant is a lifesaver treatment but lungs adaptability to the body varies from patient to patient, and it should be considered as the last option to save a life.
Dr Kanwar says that since last year, preventive care for lung related problems has been a challenge for two reasons: existing patients with chronic lung problems are extremely vulnerable to severe effects of COVID-19 and patients who are vulnerable to the disease have delayed consulting the medical practitioner leading to delayed detection and diagnosis. As a result, all this has led to patients reaching hospital at advanced stages of the disease.
Despite all challenges, he adds, "healthcare organizations and clinicians have made sure that delivery of care is not delayed." He says:
According to Dr Kanwar, the existing lung ailments for which lung transplant procedure is needed can be interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, Emphysema, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Pulmonary Hypertension, etc.
He adds, "Lung transplant can potentially be a lifesaving treatment for patients suffering from the above diseases and whose lungs have stopped responding to the various treatments. It is also helpful in some patients where the lung infection due to Covid has developed irreversible lung injury secondary to Covid ARDS or Lung fibrosis. These patients cannot go on indefinitely on mechanical ventilation or any other life support measure like ECMO (Extra corporeal membrane oxygenation) which acts as a temporary artificial lung, then the only remaining option could be lung transplantation preferably double lung transplant."
Therefore, Dr Kanwar advices that patients with other respiratory problems should take particularly more care to prevent Covid-19. Proper hand hygiene, wearing of masks, social distancing at public places should be followed. Also, an early consultation with the doctor should be done if any symptoms of covid-19 show up.
Results from around the world have so far shown that survival and recovery of advanced Covid patients has been comparable to non-Covid transplant patients which is an encouraging news. However, Dr Kanwar cautions that lung transplant can be considered as the last option to save a life.
