PH Patient With a Hole in Her Heart Has Heart and Lung Transplant

This KSFY.com report is all about pulmonary hypertension patient Britiny Schultz from Lake City, South Dakota.

Find out more about why people can develop pulmonary hypertension.

The 29-year-old was born with a hole in her heart and has undergone several operations over the years. The hole was causing a dangerous amount of blood to be pumped into Britiny’s lungs which lead to severe pulmonary hypertension. Her symptoms were so bad that she had been coughing up blood for 12 years.

In 2015, Britiny was placed on the transplant list and on July 11, 2016, she underwent the procedure to have a heart and double lung transplant—an extremely rare procedure that’s only been performed 21 times by the Mayo Clinic (where Britiny was treated).

Six months later, Britiny is still convalescing at home and taking a variety of medications to ensure she doesn’t reject the new organs.

Better understand the basic pathology of pulmonary hypertension with this short video.

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