A Palestinian from Gaza Underwent a Rare Treatment of Pulmonary Lavage

The 25 year old Palestinian arrived at Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer in critical condition with a very low level of oxygen in his blood and he was suffering from severe respiratory difficulty. The staff of doctors performed a complex six hour procedure.

The staff of the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, headed by Dr. Issahar Ben Dov, performed over the last week a rare procedure of pulmonary lavage for a 25-year-old Palestinian from Gaza. The young man arrived at the hospital in very serious condition with a very low level of oxygen in his blood, suffering from respiratory difficulty.

This is a disease known as Alveolar Proteinosis (the accumulation of protein in the lung). This condition is characteristic of young people in the third and fourth decade of their lives and most of them are from Moroccan or Iraqi origin. This is a relatively rare disease that is liable, without treatment, to lead to respiratory difficulty. However, with the help of treatment there is a very high chance of recovery.

During the course of the complex treatment that continued for six hours, a tube was inserted into one lung for breathing and another tube was inserted into the other lung to mechanically clean the lung: A liter of liquid is inserted into the lung and the process is repeated 20 times, with the fluid removing the protein from the lung each time until no protein is left. The same procedure is repeated for the other lung.

The protein which is found in excess in the patient's lung is called Surfactant. This protein is meant, in a healthy person, to be broken up by blood cells - microphages. In the body of a sick person independent antibodies are created which neutralize the microphages so that they are unable to break down the protein which accumulates in the lungs and fills them.