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UHealth Surgeons Perform Rare Bilateral Heart and Lung Transplant on 23-Year-Old South Florida Woman

Sixteen cases nationwide – just two in Florida – recorded this year

University of Miami Health System surgeons have successfully completed a rare double lung and heart transplant at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The five-hour surgery was one of only 16 performed in the U.S. this year. The patient, 23-year-old Stephanie Vargas, is home and looking forward to celebrating the holidays with her family.

“I am grateful to be alive and I am so grateful to the medical team that saved my life,” said Vargas. “I am having Thanksgiving at home with my family and not sick in the hospital. It’s a miracle.”

At age two, Vargas was diagnosed with desquamative interstitial pneumonia (DIP) – a respiratory disease that mostly affects adults who smoke, rarely children. An oxygen machine kept her alive until age 6.

Vargas’ condition stabilized as she grew into her late teens, and she became accustomed to dealing with mild respiratory symptoms.

“I learned how to live with shortness of breath,” said Vargas. “But I never knew just how severe my condition would become.”

Vargas finished college in Georgia and moved to South Florida to become a dental assistant in summer 2016. But as she tried settling back home, her symptoms became unbearable – she couldn’t walk 20 steps without feeling as though her heart was beating out of her chest.

Vargas made an appointment to see University of Miami Health System pulmonologist Robert M. Jackson, M.D., who performed tests that determined she had interstitial lung disease (ILD), a chronic condition in which the lungs are failing.

“She had diffused scarring and cyst formation in both lungs consistent with end- stage fibrosis of any cause,” said Jackson. “Complicating this, the low oxygen and scarring had caused right-sided heart failure due to pulmonary hypertension.”

Her best chance at survival was organ transplantation, so Miami Transplant Institute doctors placed her on the national transplant list.

Nicolas Brozzi, M.D., University of Miami Health System cardiothoracic vascular surgeon, followed Vargas closely.

“Stephanie came to our clinic very sick,” said Brozzi. “The transplant team immediately organized her admission, enlisted her on the waiting list, and she received her transplant within one week of being listed.”

Physicians informed her that she would need a double-lung transplant and a heart. Despite the devastating news and having kept it a secret from her family for so long, she finally let her loved ones know. She remained positive through this with her mother being her main motivation.

“My mom already lost a son a few years ago – my brother,” said Vargas. “I didn’t want her to lose another child – I was ready for my transplant, for good or for worse.”

On October 9, Vargas underwent surgery at Jackson. Miami Transplant Institute, the only program in South Florida that provides this bilateral procedure, coordinated the surgery, which was a success. With her health returned, Vargas plans to seek employment, get her Master’s degree and travel.