A 17-year-old Michigan boy underwent a double lung transplant after doctors said he was suffering potentially fatal effects from vaping.
The teenager, who has not been named, received the transplant at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and is the first person suffering from vaping-related lung damage to undergo the procedure, according to Reuters.
Dr. Hassan Nemeh, surgical director of thoracic organ transplant at the hospital, said in a statement that the transplant was performed in mid-October with the assistance of two other surgeons.
“This teenager faced imminent death had he not received a lung transplant,” Nemeh said.
The surgery comes amid an outbreak of vaping and e-cigarette related illnesses. Last week, the Center for Disease Control said there had been 39 deaths and more than 2,000 confirmed and probable cases of lung injury associated with the products.
About 85% of the lung-injury cases involved products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient found naturally in marijuana, which is distilled down into vaping products.
Family members of the teenager said they asked doctors to make news of the lung transplant public in order to highlight the “horrific life-threatening effects” of vaping.
“Within a very short period of time, our lives have been forever changed. [The boy] has gone from the typical life of a perfectly healthy 16-year old athlete … to waking up intubated and with two new lungs, facing a long and painful recovery process as he struggles to regain his strength and mobility, which has been severely impacted,” the family said.
Although mystery still surrounds the outbreak, the CDC said Friday that lung samples taken from more than two dozen patients indicate that they used products containing vitamin E acetate. The CDC said this was a “breakthrough” in its investigation into the sudden spate of illnesses.
According to doctors, after the successful transplant surgery, the teenager faces a “very good prognosis.”
