Cheryl Mehrkar submitted to double lung transplant which for the first time in the world performed entirely by robots on October 22 at NYU Langone Health Center in Manhattan.

Mehrkar, who is a doctor, suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for a decade, which became more severe when she contracted Covid. She had spent years searching for a solution to her problem before becoming eligible for the transplant procedure.

Mehrkar was a very active woman who enjoyed being a scuba leader and loves to ride motorcycles for that and likes to ride her 2003 Harley-Davidson Sportster. She also has a black belt in karate and has been into skydiving and bungee jumping. jumping. After all these activities Mehrkar can be proud of one more event in her life, that she became the first patient in the world to receive a fully robotic double lung transplant.

“I was in awe — it’s unbelievable,” Mehrkar, 57, told The Post on Wednesday shortly after being discharged from NYU Langone Health.

Dr. Stephanie H. Chang, associate professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, guided the minimally invasive procedure on October 22.

Transplant

Chang made small incisions between Mehrkar’s ribs before using the Da Vinci Xi robotic system to remove the diseased lungs, prepare her heart and airways for implantation, and sew the donor lungs together.

“The benefits are really significant with smaller incisions, so better healing for the patient and less postoperative pain,” said Chang, surgical director of the lung transplant program for the NYU Langone Transplant Institute.

The transplant institute performed 76 lung transplants in 2023.

Just a few months ago, Dr. Chang was proud to lead the country’s first fully robotic lung transplant, using the new technique to replace a man’s right lung.

“It was a very huge milestone for us, but the reason why a double lung transplant is different is because it’s an issue that the majority of patients deal with,” Chang explained. “So we needed to improve the single technique where it was short and efficient enough that we could do two [πνεύμονες] in a short time without any damage to the new organs.”

After her procedure, which took about seven hours, Mehrkar marveled at being able to take a “good breath” almost immediately.

Mehrkar was diagnosed in 2010 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which prompted her to quit smoking.

She was then told she had an overactive thyroid, causing her to lose an “incredibly large” amount of weight. But when he contracted COVID-19 in 2022, “the descent began”.

She needed oxygen therapy at home and her husband, Shahin, retired to care for her.

Mehrkar underwent surgery a few days after she was put on the transplant list. He believes the robotic technique causes less pain and has a shorter recovery time.

“It was such a positive, healthy experience,” she enthused.

Mehrkar doesn’t think she’ll be as adventurous as before, but she hopes to return to the activities she loves, including being a volunteer emergency technician with the Union Vale Fire Department in Dutchess County.

She also plans to write a letter to the family of the man who donated her lungs.

*Photo source: NYU Langone Health