On January 17, 2024, the birthday party for the very first bilateral lung transplant at Tri-Service General Hospital was hosted by Superintendent Yi-Jen Hung. In the presence of the patient, Mr. Lin, and the medical team, the cake cutting ceremony was held and Mr. Lin gave a speech to show his appreciation for the medical team.

The very first case of a bilateral lung transplant in the hospital involved Mr. Lin, 65-years-old, who had visited the hospital frequently over the past seven years due shortness of breath, coughing up phlegm, a tight chest, and pain. After an examination, he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complicated with severe pulmonary dysfunction. He required treatment with a high concentration of oxygen while severe symptoms developed. His condition was difficult to manage using medication. He suffered from repeated pneumothoraxes and needed to be hospitalized frequently, resulting in a poor quality of life. He was referred to the Thoracic Surgery Division for an assessment for a lung transplant and was found to possess only 14% of the predicted value according to his lung function test. He was successfully matched with a deceased donor's lung graft on September 28, 2023, and accepted the bilateral lung transplant surgery performed by Chief Tsai-Wang Huang and Dr. Yen-Shou Kuo on September 29, 2023. The surgical support team comprised Kuo, the Cardiovascular Surgery team, the anesthetic team and registered nurses in the operating room, who completed the surgery at 21:50 after 10 hours of operation.

Unfortunately, Mr. Lin contracted COVID-19 and septic shock, but he became stable under the care of SICU staff. By December 2, 2023, he was weaned off a ventilator and transferred to Ward 53 on December 6, 2023, for post-surgery rehabilitation. Mr. Lin later recovered well with much-needed relief on his breathing and improved quality of life. He was discharged recently.

This is the first and successful bilateral lung transplant in the military medical system, and Tri-Service General Hospital has become the hospital of for heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, and lung transplants under the leadership of Director Chien-Sung Tsai of the Medical Affairs Bureau, MND, and Superintendent Yi-Jen Hung. We’ve hit an important milestone in transplant medicine.