Breast implants help save Missouri man's life in double lung transplant surgery at Northwestern Hospital
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Breast implants played a crucial role in saving the life of a Missouri man who underwent a double lung transplant earlier this year at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Davey Bauer, 34, vaped for years, and caught the flu, causing both of his lungs to become infected, requiring him to undergo a double lung transplant.
Bauer, who lives near St. Louis, had started smoking a pack of cigarettes a day when he was 21, until he switched to vaping in 2014.
In a statement provided by Northwestern, Bauer said he thought vaping was a healthier alternative to smoking, but found it to be more addictive.
When he started suffering from shortness of breath in April, he was diagnosed with the flu, and developed an antibiotic-resistant infection in both lungs.
Dr. Rade Tomic, director of the lung transplant program at Northwestern, said Bauer's lungs were so infected "that they started to liquefy."
"If you looked at his X-ray, there was nothing left – the lungs were completely filled with pus," Tomic said. "When we received a call from Davey's medical team in St. Louis, we thought we could help him, but it was also very clear he wouldn't survive the transplant in his current condition. He needed to clear the infection before we could list him for transplant, but the only way to do that was to remove both lungs."
In late May, surgeons at Northwestern Medicine removed both of Bauer's lungs, used an external artificial lung to keep him alive, and placed DD breast implants in his chest cavity to keep his heart in place. It was the first time such a procedure had been performed at Northwestern.
Within 24 hours, doctors found a transplant match to replace his infected lungs, and two days after his lungs were removed, the breast implants were removed and the donor lungs were put in.
"I didn't know much of it until after the fact, but I thought it was awesome, kind of funny," Bauer said. "I feel so blessed. I mean it's incredible. I got a second chance at life."
Bauer and his doctors had a sense of humor about the procedure. Doctors gave him a jersey that says "DD Davey," a new nickname he's jokingly adopted since the transplant. Bauer said he also plans to use the nickname on his gaming profiles.
Bauer remained in intensive care for months before being released to a rehab program in September. He will stay in Chicago for the next year so doctors can monitor his new lungs.
"Davey's case is remarkable because it shows that we can keep patients alive after removing their lungs through new technology, which can be transformative for many critically ill patients," said Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern. "With this new approach that we've developed, many patients who get to the point of needing a lung transplant – but their damaged lungs are making them too sick to get one – can now potentially get transplanted. I think it's going to open a lot of doors for many patients who have no other options."