David “Davey” BauerThe 34-year-old heroine of a story that began with the flu and ended with two breast implants that saved her life. Having been a vaper for many years and a smoker for only a couple of years, the man became infected Influenza A virus, which is usually accepted without problems by someone your age. But the disease became more complicated, which led to bacterial infection in the lungs which turned out to be antibiotic resistant. The bacteria was liquefying his lungs, meaning they had to be removed from his chest cavity in anticipation of a transplant. But this opened the door to an unusual problem that could only be solved by two breast implants. Getting breasts literally saved her life.
All this was made possible thanks to innovative collaboration between pulmonologists and plastic surgeons of the Northwestern Hospital, in the United States. Of course, also thanks to the person who donated the lungs and their families.
He teamwork In many ways, it saved the life of a man who now claims to be proud of the breast implants he had in just 24 hours. But why were they so necessary?
Breast implants will open doors to the heart
Although the news was just announced in a statement from Northwestern Hospital, it all started last May. Bauer began to feel ill and went to a St. Louis hospital, where he was diagnosed influenza A. After seeing that he was not getting better, new tests were carried out, which confirmed that he was suffering from a bacterial lung infection. We started regular antibiotic treatmentbut the bacteria were resistant to all of them.
The symptoms only got worse; Well, as the x-rays showed, the bacteria were literally eating away at the lungs. Before they collapsed it was decided remove what’s left of them and prepare everything for transplantation when the donor arrives. But, of course, no one can live without lungs.
It was originally connected to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation device (ECMO). These devices are very common in people awaiting a heart or lung transplant because they are responsible for extracting blood, oxygenating it, and returning it back to the patient’s body.
An ECMO machine can help keep the body without lungs for a while. But a problem arose. And when they are removed rib cage was more spacious than usual, so heart displacement.
To prevent this from happening, pulmonologists thought about placing Bauer. two breast implants. Although they are almost always used for aesthetic purposes, in this case they may temporarily occupy lung space to avoid more harm.
Crash Course in Plastic Surgery
Understandably, pulmonologists are not familiar with breast implants. So they turned to the hospital’s plastic surgeons; who, according to what the statement says, gave them accelerated class about types of implants and forms of application.
Having chosen those that would be most suitable for the patient, he was placed on priority list for a lung transplant. All that was left was to wait, but there was no need to do this for long, because in just 24 hours They had a compatible donor. The implants were removed, new lungs were installed, and it turned out that Bauer was indeed He no longer required ECMO to survive.
The intervention was successful, although, logically, he still had several months of recovery ahead. Was discharged last September, leaving the nightmare behind.
Have you gotten sick because you vaped?
It is impossible to know for sure whether vaping caused Bauer’s infection. The man had been a keen vaper since 2014 and he himself admitted that although he did it to replace tobacco, he found that, at least for him, it was a lot. more exciting.
So, to what extent is this habit related to your illness? This is unknown. But it is true that there is very strong evidence of a link between vaping and respiratory infections.
For example, in 2018, a study was conducted in which a lung cell culture was exposed to e-cigarette vapor. with or without nicotine. Another set of bacteria served as a control and were not exposed to any type of vapor. These cells were then brought into contact with pneumococcal bacteria, causing pneumonia, and were seen to attach to and multiply within cells. When using cigarette steam, both with and without nicotine, the number of attached bacteria was twice as high as without steam. So they seem to make it easier proliferation of bacteria in the respiratory tract.
The same effects were analyzed later. in both mice and humansso it doesn’t seem like a coincidence.
Until May, Bauer was a healthy person and usually did not get sick. A 34-year-old person with no previous pathologies should not get so seriously ill from the flu. There may have been something that helped the resistant bacteria gain a foothold in the lungs. And it wouldn’t be strange if the steam from an electronic cigarette became this silent assistant.
Source: Hiper Textual
