Health Times reporter Wang Zhenya
At 10:30 p.m. on January 6, 2022, Chen Jingyu, vice president of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, director of the Department of Lung Transplantation and director of the Lung Transplant Center, appeared at the Eighth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital. He took the high-speed train from Zhejiang to Beijing overnight, just to save a girl who was in danger.
Meng Meng (pseudonym), an 18-year-old girl from Wei County, Hebei Province, was poisoned with paraquat by her brother-in-law Chen 33 days ago. Since December 18, 2021, the doctor has issued many critical illness notices to Meng Meng, and her kidneys and lungs have suffered from severe failure. The only thing that could save her was a "double lung transplant."
After 5 hours of overnight surgery, the double lung transplant surgery performed by Chen Jingyu and her team was successfully completed at 3:00 a.m. on January 7, 2022, and Meng Meng was rescued.
Chen Jingyu and the lung transplant team of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the Eighth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital. Courtesy of Chen Jingyu
Paraquat poisoned girl, repeatedly issued a critical illness notice
Meng Meng, 18 years old, who is in the third year of high school this year, took leave of absence and did not go to school due to poor learning status. On the evening of December 5, 2021, because her sister was not at home, Meng Meng went to her sister's house to help watch the children, during which time she was fed two cups of "cold medicine" by her brother-in-law.
The two so-called "cold medicines" were tested by the police as diluted paraquat, a highly toxic pesticide. From December 18 to 28, 2021, Meng Meng received treatment at the Hebei Provincial People's Hospital, but the situation was not impressive. Meng Meng's aunt Guo Sufen's circle of friends is all the fundraising information for Meng Meng's rescue treatment: Meng Meng was treated in the Hebei Provincial People's Hospital due to paraquat poisoning, and is currently in a dangerous period, and the treatment has cost more than 150,000 yuan, and the daily cost is about 20,000 yuan.
Guo Sufen said, "The doctor has issued many critical illness notices, and now the kidneys and lungs have failed, but as long as there is a glimmer of hope, we want to save the child." ”
On 25 September 2020, the General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the Notice on Effectively Strengthening the Special Remediation of Paraquat, which stipulates that paraquat mother medicine manufacturers with paraquat mother drug production licenses and only registered for the use of pesticides abroad can produce paraquat products. According to Announcement No. 269 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, paraquat products produced by paraquat mother medicine manufacturers can only be used for export and may not be sold in China.
On December 29, 2021, the Wei County Public Security Bureau issued a police information circular saying that after investigation: the criminal suspect Chen Mou felt that his family economic conditions were poor, and his father-in-law's family "looked down on himself", so he had the idea of revenge. On the evening of December 5, after diluting the remaining herbicide in the home with water, Ma was allowed to take it twice, causing Ma to be poisoned. On December 28, 2021, criminal suspect Chen Mou was arrested on suspicion of intentional homicide.
Chen Jingyu told the Health Times reporter, "Paraquat is banned in China, and I can only hope that everyone cherishes life and stays away from paraquat." Paraquat is a poison without a "regret medicine", even a small bite, which is enough to be deadly. Paraquat poisoning can affect multiple organs, the most deadly of which is irreversible interstitial fibrosis of the lungs. ”
There is currently no effective antidote, and lung transplants have saved the girl
Cute after surgery. Courtesy of Chen Jingyu.
"Paraquat is generally 10 ml lethal, and when paraquat is poisoned, the toxicity affects multiple organs throughout the body, and once poisoned, the survival rate is low." Chen Jingyu introduced to the Health Times reporter that the late stage of poisoning will lead to "paraquat lungs", due to pulmonary fibrosis death, at present, there is no effective detoxification drug.
"In order to ensure that the transplanted lung is not affected by the poison, the patient needs to have the poison metabolized after one month, and the lung transplant can be carried out under the condition that other organs in the body are good." But many patients wait less than a month before dying. Chen Jingyu said, however, on the 33rd day after the poisoning, Meng Meng waited for the lung source and underwent a double lung transplant.
After Meng Meng was admitted to the ICU, the family contacted Chen Jingyu and hoped to save the child through lung transplantation. "After learning about this patient's situation, we have conducted online consultations many times, the child's condition is deteriorating, and lung transplant surgery is urgently needed, and on the afternoon of January 6, a caring person donated a lung source that was successfully matched with Meng Meng."
Lung transplant surgery is a race against the clock. After the successful matching of lung sources, the surgical plan was also implemented. The lung donor came to Beijing through the green channel of organ transplantation, and Chen Jingyu also rushed to Beijing overnight. "By the time we arrived, the Eighth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital was ready, the patient had arrived at the operating room, and the anesthesia intubation and chest opening were in place."
After five hours of surgery, at 3 a.m. on January 7, Chen Jingyu's team successfully completed the double lung transplant surgery. Under the careful management of the postoperative lung transplant team of the Respiratory and Critical Care Department of the Eighth Medical Center of the Plast General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, Meng Meng has awakened, her vital signs are stable, and she can withdraw the ECMO ventilator in a short period of time and enter the rapid recovery stage.
"The little girl treated yesterday was poisoned and may need to take medicine for life after surgery." Chen Jingyu introduced that for these paraquat poisoning patients, postoperative rehabilitation should not only focus on the lungs, but also pay attention to mental and psychological health and growth.