UPMC Patient First in U.S. Implanted With Hemolung Before Lifesaving Double- Lung Transplant

UPMC/University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

An Oklahoma man who came to Pittsburgh for his second double-lung transplant was placed on a device never before used in the U.S., making him healthy enough to eventually get a transplant. With the help of a multidisciplinary team, Jon Sacker is now recovering after his lifesaving surgery at UPMC Presbyterian. Photo credit: "UPMC"

Suffering from cystic fibrosis and rejecting the transplanted lungs he had gotten just two years ago, Jon Sacker, 33, came to UPMC from his hometown in Moore, Oklahoma, as a last resort. But when his carbon dioxide levels spiked, making him too sick for another transplant, his family feared the worst.

“I thought I had brought my husband here to die,” said Mr. Sacker’s wife, Sallie.

Instead, UPMC clinicians turned to a Pittsburgh-made device called the Hemolung Respiratory Assist System (RAS) that would filter out harmful carbon dioxide and provide healthy oxygen to his blood, giving Mr. Sacker a chance to gain enough strength to undergo a lifesaving transplant. In February, he became the first person in the U.S. to be implanted with the Hemolung RAS; in March, he underwent a double lung transplant and today is on the road to recovery.

Read the full press release.

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The Hemolung RAS removed carbon dioxide from Jon Sacker’s lungs and delivered oxygen directly to his blood, enabling him to be healthy enough for a double lung transplant.

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