Doctors save man's life using breast implants as heart support after lung failure

Surgeons at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital had to get creative during a procedure earlier this year.

After removing a man's failing lungs, they turned to a new option, keep his heart in place in his chest cavity until new lungs could be transplanted in: size DD artificial breast implants.

"I thought it was awesome," said Davey Bauer, the transplant recipient. "[It is] kind of funny."

Bauer is now on a road to full recovery, but the 34-year-old's journey to this point began long ago. He said he had smoked and vaped starting when he was 21, weakening his lungs.

“Vaping felt better," Bauer said. "I thought it was the healthier alternative."

Then he contracted the flu in April, and soon developed a severe lung infection. Doctors at a hospital near his home in Missouri tried several treatment options to get him to improve, even putting him on a ventilator.

"When you look at the chest x-ray there was nothing there," said Dr. Rade Tomic, a pulmonologist who treated him in Chicago at Northwestern. "The lungs were completely filled with puss."

After spending days in a coma, Bauer was transferred to Northwestern on the verge of death.

"Soon after he arrived his heart had stopped," said Dr. Ankit Bharat, the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Northwestern. "We had to do chest compressions and it was clear to us that something needed to be done right away."

Northwestern doctors said they knew Bauer's lungs needed to be removed immediately, although he didn't yet have a match to a new set of lungs.

"This was uncharted territory for us, but with our brilliant surgical team we knew they would come up with a plan," Dr. Tomic said.

Doctors said they thought they could keep him alive without his lungs, but needed space in his chest cavity to support his heart in the meantime.

"We want to thank our plastic surgeons for giving us a crash course on breast implants," said Dr. Bharat. "The double D breast implants seem to be the perfect fit."

Northwestern Medicine has pioneered double lung transplants, but this is the first time doctors have used implants to stabilize the chest cavity.

"It makes sense that he had to have something to keep his heart centered," Bauer's girlfriend, Susan Gore said. "So if breast implants is what makes it happen, give him some breast implants!"

Bauer also benefitted from some luck; a set of lungs from a donor became available in one day.

"It still blows my mind that he didn’t have lungs in his body but he was still alive," Bauer said.

After one day, the breast implants were removed and the new lungs were transplanted into Bauer's body. Northwestern said he will remain in the Chicago area for a year so his transplant doctors can monitor his progress.

"I feel so blessed," Bauer said. "It’s incredible I got a second chance at life."