Doctors Use DD Breast Implants During A Double Lung Transplant To Save Man's Life

Breast implants to the rescue! A Missouri man has a pair of DD breast implants to thank for helping to save his life prior to undergoing a double lung transplant.

34-year-old David "Davey" Bauer developed an antibiotic resistant lung infection in April of this year after a bout with the flu. The infection caused damage so severe to his lungs that he had to be placed on a device that pumps blood throughout the body to allow the heart and lungs to rest.

David "Davey" Bauer receiving a "DD Davey" t-shirt (Image Credit: FOX 59)

Doctors in St. Louis determined that Bauer was in need of a double lung transplant. He was eventually transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for the procedure.

"Davey's lungs were so heavily infected that they started to liquefy," said Rade Tomic, a pulmonologist and the medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute Lung Transplant Program. "If you looked at his X-ray, there was nothing left - the lungs were completely filled with puss."

Tomic added that it was "very clear he wouldn't survive the transplant in his current condition." They needed to get the infected lungs out and allow his body to fight off the infection.

Surgeons removed Bauer's lungs in May. He was attached to an artificial lung, but doctors needed a way to support his heart without the lungs there to do that.

That's when doctors turned to breasts implants for help. Not just any breast implants, they needed the biggest implants they could get their hands on. Thankfully, they were able secure a couple of double-Ds.

Bauer Can Confidently Say That Breast Implants Saved His Life

"One of the important things was to keep his heart supported. That was done using DD breast implants," said Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery and director of the Canning Thoracic Institute. "So, with that, we could put him in a position of stability and get him to the ICU."

"What we found was very rapidly, his body started to clear the infection," Bharat added. "He improved rapidly, and then we were able to list him. And within 24 hours, we got an organ offer, and on May 28, we took him back to the operating room and implanted new lungs."

The surgery was a success. But that's not all, according to the hospital, breast implants being used to keep a heart in place after the patient had their lungs removed had never been done before.

"We want to thank our plastic surgeons on giving us a rapid-fire crash course on breast implants," Bharat said. "We felt like with the lungs taken out, we needed something to support his heart, and the double-D breast implants were the best fit and, frankly, the largest we could get at the time."

These breast implants literally saved a man's life. Bauer has a second chance and a new nickname. Following the surgery he's calling himself "DD Davey."