The patient, a 56-year-old man, has lived with HIV for 20 years, according to a press release from NYU Langone Health Institute in New York. In recent years, he has had severely impaired lung function due to lung disease and has been dependent on supplemental oxygen.
In March, he received new lungs from a deceased donor who was also HIV-positive. In the United States, it is possible to transplant organs from HIV-positive donors to recipients with HIV, as part of a research program. Previously, liver and kidney transplants have been performed with HIV-positive donors, but this is the first lung transplant.
The man, who also received a liver at the same time, has been discharged from the hospital, according to Scientific American.
