NYU Langone performs world’s first fully robotic double lung transplant

(Press-News.org) NEW YORK, NY, NOV. 21, 2024—A surgical team at NYU Langone Health has performed the first fully robotic double lung transplant in the world. The procedure marks a breakthrough in the potential of robotic surgery and minimally invasive patient care, making NYU Langone the new leader in robotic transplant surgery around the globe.

Stephanie H. Chang, MD, associate professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and surgical director of the Lung Transplant Program for the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, led the minimally invasive procedure. Her team transplanted both lungs into a 57-year-old woman with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using the da Vinci Xi robotic system at each stage. Small incisions were made between the ribs then the robotic system was used to remove the lung, prepare the surgical site for implantation, and implant the new lung. Both lungs were transplanted using these robotic techniques. 

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The transplant was performed on Oct. 22, 2024, just four days after patient Cheryl Mehrkar was added to the lung transplant list following several months of evaluation by Jake G. Natalini, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, and Luis F. Angel, MD, medical director of lung transplantation for the NYU Langone Transplant Institute. Dr. Chang was assisted by Travis C. Geraci, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Eugene A. Grossi, MD, the Stephen B. Colvin, MD, Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

“I’m so grateful to the donor and their family for giving me another chance at life,” said Mehrkar. “For a long time, I was told I wasn’t sick enough for a transplant. The team at NYU Langone Health centered my quality of life as a priority, and I’m so grateful to the doctors and nurses here for giving me hope.”

Mehrkar, who inherited a genetic predisposition to lung disease, was diagnosed with COPD in 2010 at 43 years old. Her condition worsened after a bout with COVID-19 in 2022. Throughout her life, she has been an active thrill-seeker, traveling the world as a scuba divemaster, becoming an avid motorcyclist, and earning her karate black belt with her husband, Shahin. The couple owned a dojo for over 20 years, and she had a passion for teaching before her health sidelined her. After retiring from karate, she became a volunteer emergency medical technician with the Union Vale Fire Department in Dutchess County, New York. She remains active in the department to give back to her community.

“It is one of the greatest privileges to be able to help patients return to a healthy quality of life,” said Dr. Chang. “By using these robotic systems, we aim to reduce the impact this major surgery has on patients, limit their postoperative pain, and give them the best possible outcome. It couldn’t happen here without a talented group of surgeons and an institution dedicated to moving transplantation forward.”

Just a month earlier, NYU Langone announced Dr. Chang performed the first fully robotic single lung transplant in the nation. Now her team is the global leader in lung transplantation surgery.

A Breakthrough Innovation in Transplant Surgery

“This latest breakthrough in robotic surgery speaks to the culture of innovation we’ve built by bringing the most talented people in their fields together,” said Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Professor of Surgery, chair of the Department of Surgery, and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute. “Our Transplant Institute team pushes the field forward to better serve our patients and deliver the lifesaving care they need with the best patient experience.”

The NYU Langone Transplant Institute performed 76 lung transplants in 2023 and was rated best in the nation for lung survival after transplant and for getting patients off the waitlist the fastest by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, a national quality tracker overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“We are grateful to have some of the most talented surgeons in the world who break barriers and push the boundaries of what is possible for our patients,” said Ralph S. Mosca, MD, the Henry H. Arnhold Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery, professor in the Departments of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Pediatrics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and director of the Pediatric Congenital Heart Program at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone. “This latest innovation is a watershed moment in lung transplantation surgery worldwide and just the beginning of a new era in patient care.”

Surgeons at NYU Langone are international leaders in using robotic technology to manage a wide range of medical conditions, performing more than 2,000 robot-assisted surgeries each year. NYU Langone experts have pioneered the development and innovation of many robotic surgery techniques and continue to invest in new and evolving technology. As leaders in robotic surgical techniques, NYU Langone trains surgeons from hospitals across the nation and from around the world in how to perform the latest robot-assisted cardiac, bariatric, thoracic, gynecologic, colorectal, urologic, and gastrointestinal procedures.

NYU Langone Health is a world-class, patient-centered, integrated academic medical center, with a culture rooted in excellence in patient care, education, and research. Vizient, Inc., has ranked NYU Langone the No. 1 comprehensive academic medical center in the country for three years in a row, and U.S. News & World Report recently placed nine of its clinical specialties among the top five in the nation. NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services across six inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 300 outpatient locations across the New York area and Florida. With $14 billion in revenue this year, the system also includes two medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise.

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