
NYU Langone Health surgeons have completed the first fully robotic double lung transplant in the world. The surgery occurred on Oct. 22, 2024, four days after Cheryl Mehrkar, a 57-year-old female patient with COPD, was placed on the lung transplant list following months of evaluation.
The team of surgeons, led by Stephanie H. Chang, MD, utilized the Da Vinci Xi robotic system to successfully transplant both of Mehrkar’s lungs. Dr. Chang is associate professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, and surgical director for the Lung Transplant Program.
“By using these robotic systems, we aim to reduce the impact this major surgery has on patients, limit their postoperative pain and give them the best possible outcome,” said Dr. Chang in a press release.
Dr. Chang operated the robot to remove the patient’s lungs, prepare the surgical sites and implant the new lungs. Two colleagues in her department, Travis C. Geraci, MD, assistant professor, and Eugene A. Grossi, MD, the Stephen B. Colvin, MD, Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, assisted in the minimally invasive procedure.
“I’m so grateful to the donor and their family for giving me another chance at life,” said Mehrkar. “For a long time, I was told I wasn’t sick enough for a transplant. The team at NYU Langone Health centered my quality of life as a priority, and I’m so grateful to the doctors and nurses here for giving me hope.”
One month before Mehrkar’s procedure, the center became the first in the United States to use a robot at every stage of implantation.
(Left to right): Dr. Eugene A. Grossi, Dr. Travis C. Geraci and Dr. Stephanie H. ChangNYU Langone Health
In 2023, the NYU Langone Transplant Institute completed 76 lung transplants. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, a national quality tracker overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), rated the institute best in the nation for lung survival after transplant and getting patients off the waitlist fastest.
“Our Transplant Institute team pushes the field forward to better serve our patients and deliver the lifesaving care they need with the best patient experience,” said Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Professor of Surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery.