4 minute read
BREATHING EASY
Since receiving a lung transplant at TGH’s Transplant Institute, Derick Cabral has been able to once again enjoy some of his favorite hobbies.
BREATHING
REACHING A MILESTONE 700 LUNG TRANSPLANTS IS JUST ONE MARKER OF SUCCESS FOR TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL AND ITS RENOWNED TRANSPLANT INSTITUTE
EASY
BY SANDRA GURVIS
In July 2021, St. Petersburg mechanic Derick Cabral contracted COVID-19 and was soon hospitalized and fl own to Tampa General Hospital due to his worsening condition.
“I was intubated after having a panic attack because I couldn’t breathe,” recalled the 32-year-old Cabral, who also has borderline diabetes.
Waking up in TGH’s intensive care unit (ICU) two days later, “I was more disappointed over being unconscious during the helicopter ride and missing that than I was worried about being in the ICU,” he half-joked.
Doctors had treated Cabral with everything from a noninvasive ventilator to ease his breathing, to the far more intense extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)—which pumps blood outside of the body into a heart-lung machine—to save his life. But after the immediate crisis, Cabral faced lung damage that was likely permanent and might get worse. He suffered from shortness of breath, constant fatigue, aches, and other symptoms.
Still, youth and good fortune were in Cabral’s favor. After being fully evaluated, his case was put before TGH’s medical review board, which determined that a lung transplant was his best option. Miraculously, after only nine days on the transplant list, Cabral received a new set of lungs on October 2, making him TGH’s 700th lung transplant since its program began in 2002.
“This is notable, especially in a time when the pandemic has provided obstacles for us all,” said
Dr. Kapil Patel, medical director of TGH’s Center for Advanced Lung Disease and an assistant professor at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida. In collaboration with
USF Health, the Transplant Institute at TGH is one of only 20 programs out of 53 transplant centers in the nation to reach this milestone number of lung transplants. Patel credited the Transplant Institute’s dedicated health care team for making this achievement possible. Dr. Kiran Dhanireddy, the institute’s executive director, also recognized the importance of LifeLink of Florida, a local organ procurement organization, as well as “the selfl ess organ donors and gracious donor families who chose to save lives.” Along with being a transplant innovator for more than 50 years and one of the busiest transplant institutes in the United States, TGH is one of only a few dozen hospitals in the country to have performed more than 11,000 transplant surgeries. It is the only hospital in West Central Florida to offer all fi ve organ transplants for adult patients: heart, lung, liver, kidney (from living and deceased donors), and pancreas.
Pediatric kidney transplants are also available. “TGH is deeply committed to transplantation and to providing lifesaving therapy to the sickest members of the community,” Dhanireddy said. Along with shorter wait times, TGH patients typically experience survival rates that are equal to or greater than those at other programs across the country, according to Scientifi c Registry of Transplant
Recipients (SRTR) data. Named by U.S. News & World Report as a “high performing” hospital for pulmonology and lung surgery for 2021-2022, TGH operates one of only four active lung transplant programs in Florida. The lung transplant program now is noted for its cutting-edge methods of preserving lungs prior to transplantation and for developing advanced techniques for detecting and treating rejection. As TGH transplant physicians evolve with the times and lead in innovation they are also responding to the coronavirus pandemic and its implications on lung health. Lung transplant patient Cabral is not alone—TGH is seeing other patients affected by COVID-19. “As a result of COVID-19, we have seen an increase in the scarring of lungs and the development of interstitial lung disease,” noted Dhanireddy. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is another term for pulmonary fi brosis, which means scarring or infl ammation of the lungs. This scarring makes it hard for the lungs to get enough oxygen and, therefore, inhibits a person’s ability to Dr. Kapil Patel breathe. This is a chronic lung disease that can be permanent and worsen over time. The TGH lung transplant program specializes in ILD as well as cystic fi brosis, pulmonary hypertension, and other complex conditions. Each organ program that comprises the TGH Transplant Institute boasts its own unique success stories, and its health care professionals are constantly working toward future innovations. Areas of research include ways to keep the immune system from rejecting donated organs and the implementations of advanced therapies to manage and treat mitigating diseases to reduce the need for transplantation in the fi rst place. Furthermore, a minimally invasive robotic kidney transplant system is in the works, and Dhanireddy said that the institute is also in the process of establishing a live liver donor transplant program. Meanwhile, each day provides Cabral with more endurance and strength. “I look forward to returning to a normal life and am tremendously grateful to Dr. Kiran Dhanireddy Dr. Patel and the entire transplant team,” he said.
