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Vaping-related lung transplant performed at Detroit hospital

More than 2,000 Americans who vape have gotten sick since March, many of them teenagers and young adults, and at least 40 people have died.
Credit: AP
FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 4, 2019 photo, a man using an electronic cigarette exhales in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Vaping-related illnesses in the U.S. are still rising, though at a slightly slower pace. On Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been nearly 1,500 cases and at least 33 deaths in the still mysterious outbreak. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Doctors at a Detroit hospital have performed a double lung transplant on a man whose lungs were damaged from vaping.

No other details of the transplant were released Monday by Henry Ford Health System, which has scheduled a news conference Tuesday. The patient has asked his medical team to share photographs and an update to warn others about vaping.

More than 2,000 Americans who vape have gotten sick since March, many of them teenagers and young adults, and at least 40 people have died.

RELATED: CDC confirms vitamin E acetate possibly linked to vaping illness outbreak

RELATED: Trump to pursue raising age to purchase e-cigarettes

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week announced a breakthrough into the cause of a vaping illness outbreak, identifying a chemical compound as a "very strong culprit." Vitamin E acetate previously was found in liquid from electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices used by many who got sick and only recently has been used as a vaping fluid thickener.

Many who got sick said they had vaped liquids that contain THC, the high-inducing part of marijuana.

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