Doctors said a patient with Covid-19 from South Korea was recovering after a lung transplant surgery after spending 112 days on a specialized ration system and it is only the ninth case in the world to undergo this surgery since the outbreak of the Coruna virus began.

The 50-year-old was diagnosed with the disease and hospitalized in late February, then spent 16 weeks on membrane oxygenation, which includes passing the patient’s blood through a device that supplies red blood cells with oxygen.

The doctors who treated her said this was the longest period a patient with Covid-19 spent in the world on this device.

Dr. Pak Song-hoon, professor of pulmonology at the University of Halem Sacred Heart Hospital, said that various drugs had not succeeded in preventing the deterioration of the fibrosis of the lungs, including the anti-malarial drug, Chloroquine and Calitra, which is used to treat the HIV virus. This left no choice but to grow the lungs.

"The probability of a successful lung transplantation for patients who rely on the device is 50 percent, and fortunately the patient was well prepared before surgery when we found the donor," said Dr. Kim Hyung-sun, director of the hospital's Membrane Oxygenation System program who supervised the surgery.
The patient refused to reveal her identity or to be interviewed.

The doctors who performed the eight-hour surgery described the two damaged lungs as solid as rock.

The hospital said that the surgery is the ninth in the world after performing six similar surgeries in China, one in the United States and another in Australia.