A team at Houston-based Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center coordinated and performed a double lung transplant during a rare winter storm.
The procedure, which occurred Jan. 20, was made possible when a donor lung became available hours before the storm was forecast to arrive, according to a Jan. 22 news release from the health system.
Thoracic surgeon Ramiro Fernandez, MD, and Baylor St. Luke's "ride-out" team completed the initial transplant surgery. A second surgery was needed to address a complication the following morning. Surgical Director of Lung Transplantation Gabriel Loor, MD, drove through "treacherous" road conditions and made it to the hospital to perform the surgery, the release said.