Woman’s Heart Put in Man After She Gets Heart-Lung Implant
A Mississippi woman and a Pennsylvania man received lifesaving organs Monday in a six-hour dual transplant procedure known as a “domino operation,” officials said.
Leslie Lacey, 21, of Kosciusko, Miss., received a new heart and lungs, and her old heart was implanted in Jeffrey Schilling, 31, of Morrisville, Pa., said Temple University Hospital spokesman Robert Villier.
Lacey suffered from cystic fibrosis, which had led to deterioration of her lungs, and Schilling had a virus that caused deterioration of his heart muscle, Villier said.
“It’s easier to transplant the heart and lung together,” Villier said in explaining why Lacey’s heart was removed. “The good heart is given to someone else.”
He said both patients were in critical but stable condition.
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