LOS ANGELES : 2 Brothers Donate Parts of Their Lungs to Aid Sister
A Canadian woman whose brothers donated part of their lungs to keep her alive was in critical but stable condition at USC University Medical Center on Thursday.
Annick Tremblay, 21, suffers from cystic fibrosis, an inherited, fatal disorder that causes mucus to build up in the lungs. People with the disease, which causes chronic lung infections and the destruction of air sacs, usually die before age 30 without a transplant.
Tremblay, who is from Saint-Hilarion, north of Quebec City, and her brothers, Joel, 28, and Donald, 24, on Wednesday underwent surgery by a team supervised by Dr. Vaughn A. Starnes, hospital spokeswoman Beverly Strong said.
The Quebec government agreed to pay for the surgery, which cost an estimated $800,000.
The same team of doctors at USC University Hospital performed pioneering double-lung transplant surgery in January, 1993, on cystic fibrosis patient Stacy Sewell, then 21. Her parents each donated a lobe to their daughter.
Sewell, who was from Quartz Hill, died April 1 at age 24 of complications of bacterial pneumonia.
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