JEDDAH: A medical team at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital (KFSH) in Jeddah has successfully transplanted two lungs to a 27-year-old woman.
The anonymous patient was suffering from a severe lung failure that made her incapable of living a normal life.
The surgery was able to go ahead after a donor was found. It took doctors 14 hours to perform the transplant.
The hospital was also able to perform another successful lung transplant on a 58-year-old man who had suffered from a failed left lung.
In the past, such delicate operations were performed abroad, particularly in North America, but now Saudi hospitals such as KFSH are capable of performing such complicated procedures.
“The patient is under supervision here at the hospital and she is undergoing medical treatment. There are no indications that the lungs have been rejected by her body and she will be able to lead a normal life within days,” KFSH lung disease consultant Dr. Salem Al-Faifi said.
“Organ donation policies have to be implemented effectively, as they can save lives. There is a long waiting list for patients waiting for lung transplants.”
“These operations are normally performed outside the Kingdom, sometimes at a cost of more than half a million dollars, which can put a burden on the government and the patients.
“Now they can be performed here in Saudi Arabia, costing around SR100,000,” Al-Faifi said.
This is the ninth lung transplant operation performed by KFSH in Jeddah.
