NYU Langone performs the world's first HIV-positive-to-HIV-positive lung transplant
· News-MedicalThe world's first HIV-positive-to-HIV-positive lung transplant was performed at NYU Langone Health.
"This is a watershed moment for the HIV-positive community and represents real progress in creating equity in organ transplantation," said Sapna Mehta, MD, clinical director of NYU Langone Transplant Institute and co-architect of the research protocol, sanctioned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that enabled the complex procedure. "While these transplants are still only allowable under certain research protocols, this marks an expansion of options for people in need of a lifesaving organ."
Approximately 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV. People with HIV can live long, healthy lives due to advances in antiretroviral therapies, or ART. Most people using ART are unable to transmit the virus and have near-normal life expectancies.
A breath of fresh air
Then, in 2021, he acquired Legionnaires' disease and was hospitalized for weeks with severe pneumonia. The disease reactivated his sarcoidosis, which attacked his liver. His condition worsened in 2024-he required an increasing amount of oxygen to breathe-and his doctor referred him to NYU Langone Transplant Institute to be evaluated for both lung and liver transplants. A research protocol for lung transplantation under the 2013 HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, or HOPE Act, had begun, and he was evaluated for HOPE dual-organ transplant in 2025.
Mark A. Sonnick, MD, transplant pulmonologist at NYU Langone Transplant Institute and co-author of the research protocol with Dr. MehtaTransplantation of HOPE hearts and abdominal organs has been done before, but this has not been done in lung transplantation. It takes a special kind of patient to be willing to do something that hasn't been done before."
He credits his mother, who will be 82 in August, for always supporting him and helping him throughout his journey.
He hopes his story of perseverance might inspire others and help raise awareness of people in the HIV community in need.
"There are so many others who need access to this level of care, and the more organs that become available, the better the odds of finding the right match and living a long life," he said.
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