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For the first time in the world, a team in the United States is carrying out a fully robotic double lung transplant. A fascinating technique that promises smaller incisions and better patient recovery, even in extreme cases.
Cheryl Mehrkar, a 57-year-old patient suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, can finally breathe. On October 22, she received a double lung transplant to save her. But something new: the entire procedure was carried out by a robot.
Only 4 days on the waiting list
The fifty-year-old, although very athletic, inherited a genetic predisposition to lung diseases, and was diagnosed with COPD in 2010 at the age of 43.
Her condition worsened after a COVID-19 crisis in 2022. Faced with the deterioration of her health, the professional paramedic then learned that a double lung transplant was her only hope of being able to breathe again. Normally. Cheryl is placed on the waiting list, after months of evaluation, and is preparing for long months of combat. After just four days, she received the call that would save her life.
Minimal incisions, more precise system…
What Cheryl then discovers is that she will not be a patient like the others, but the first to receive a double transplant… by a robot. Supported by a team of surgeons led by Dr Stephanie Chang, the Da Vinci Xi robotic system is activated at each stage. Small incisions are made between the ribs, then the robotic system removes the diseased lungs, prepares the surgical site for implantation and implants the new lungs.
This technique considerably reduces the inconveniences and risks since the system makes it possible to go from incisions of 20 cm to 5 cm. Also facilitating recovery. Still recovering, the patient can now already walk again. “When I walk around, I don’t need oxygen and I can breathe. (…) It’s incredible“, she rejoices.
A team at the forefront of innovation
A month earlier, NYU Langone had already announced that Dr. Chang had performed the nation’s first fully robotic single lung transplant. Thanks to this intervention, his team is now the world leader in lung transplant surgery.
“It is one of the greatest privileges to be able to help patients regain a healthy quality of life”she said. “By using these robotic systems, we want to reduce the impact of this major surgical procedure on patients, limit their postoperative pain and offer them the best possible result. This would not be possible without a talented group of surgeons and an institution dedicated to advancing transplantation.”
To date, NYU Langone surgeons are international leaders in the use of robotic technology to manage a wide range of conditions, performing more than 2,000 robot-assisted surgical procedures each year. They have just taken a new step.