Double lung transplant for vaping US teenager

A US teen is the recipient of what could be the first double lung transplant on a person whose lungs were damaged by vaping.

An American teenager has been the recipient of what could be the first double lung transplant on a person whose lungs were severely damaged from vaping.

Doctors at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit have described the procedure that saved the 17-year-old’s life and pleaded for the public to understand the dangers of ­vaping.

The teen was admitted in early September to a Detroit-area hospital with what appeared to be pneumonia. After his condition deteriorated, he was transferred on October 3 to Henry Ford, where the transplant was performed on October 15.

Henry Ford doctors said his lung damage because of vaping was so severe and he was so close to death that the teen immediately was placed at the top of the transplant waiting list.

Doctors found an “enormous amount of inflammation and scarring” on the teen’s lungs, said ­Hassan Nemeh, surgical director of thoracic organ transplant at Henry Ford.

“This is an evil I haven’t faced before. The damage that these vapes do to people’s lungs is irreversible,’’ Dr Nemeh said.

“Please think of that — and tell your children to think of that.”

Health officials, who declined to release the teen’s name, said he was expected to recover. They also did not specify what the teen vaped or for how long he vaped.

“Our family could never have imagined being at the centre of the largest adolescent public health crisis to face our country in decades,’’ his family said in a statement released by the hospital.

“He has gone from the typical life of a perfectly healthy 16-year-old athlete — attending high school, hanging out with friends, sailing and playing video games — 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.”

More than 2000 Americans who vape have fallen sick since March, many of them teenagers and young adults, and at least 40 people have died.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention last week ­announced a breakthrough into the cause of a vaping illness outbreak, identifying the chemical compound vitamin E acetate as a “very strong culprit” after finding it in fluid taken from the lungs of 29 ­patients.

Vitamin E acetate previously was found in liquid from electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices used by many who fell sick and only recently has been used as a vaping fluid thickener.

“Vaping-related injuries are all too common these days. Our adolescents are faced with a crisis,” said Lisa Allenspach, pulmonologist and the medical director of Henry Ford’s lung transplant program. “We are just beginning to see the enormous health consequence jeopardising the youth in our country … these vaping products should not be used in any fashion.’’

AP