‘Body cooling’ lung surgery at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge to feature in Channel 5 documentary
A highly-specialised procedure at Royal Papworth Hospital which involves draining all of a patient’s blood after cooling the body down to 20°C is to feature in a Channel 5 documentary.
Wonders of the Human Body is a three-part series, presented by late TV presenter Dr Michael Mosley, each focusing on a different part of the body.
Its final episode, to be shown this evening (Thursday, 5 September) at 8pm, will focus on the lungs.
It follows a pulmonary endarterectomy, a highly-skilled operation that is only performed in the UK at Royal Papworth Hospital, and which took place last year.
During the surgery, blood vessels in the lungs are cleared of old clot and scar material.
It is a curative treatment for people who have chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), a relatively rare disease that occurs in about two per cent of people after a pulmonary embolism, when the clots do not fully resolve and a patient is left with blood clots blocking off the arteries in the lungs and restricting blood flow.
The remarkable part of the operation is the need to drain all the blood out of a patient’s body to allow the surgical team to see deep enough into the lungs to clear the clots.
This can only be achieved by cooling the patient’s body to 20°C – almost half the normal body temperature – to prevent damage to vital organs, including the brain.
Clifford Young, aged 65 from Bristol, was the patient featured in the episode.
A lover of Latin dancing and going to the gym, he was originally admitted to hospital suffering from symptoms of breathlessness.
Clots were subsequently identified in the arteries on both sides of his lungs, with this major surgical operation at Royal Papworth Hospital the only option to prevent heart failure.
Viewers of the programme will see Clifford’s procedure performed by a multi-disciplinary surgical team led by consultant cardiothoracic surgeon David Jenkins.
Mr Jenkins, who also leads the national pulmonary endarterectomy programme, said: “We are very grateful to Clifford for his permission for the filming which allows us to showcase not just the incredible life-saving work that takes place at Royal Papworth, but also to publicise this relatively rare, but treatable disease – CTEPH.
“A pulmonary endarterectomy is one of surgery’s more technically demanding operations, where the aim is to physically clear these obstructions in the lungs to reopen the arteries.
“However, the lungs are relatively inconveniently located in the middle of the chest and ordinarily have five litres of blood per minute flowing through them.
“The surgery involves the surgical teams completely emptying the body of blood so we can see what we’re doing.
“To achieve this, the patient’s body is cooled to just 20 degrees.”
The patient is technically dead on the theatre table and surgeons have just 20 minutes to remove the clots from one lung, before blood flow needs to be restored.
Mr Jenkins added: “In a large proportion of patients who undergo this operation, their level of activity, quality of life and life expectancy are significantly improved.”
The final episode of Wonders of the Human Body will be broadcast on Channel 5 this evening (Thursday, 5 September) at 8pm. Alternatively, it will be available to stream on My5.
