On Jul. 14, 2026, Northwestern Medicine surgeons announced they have performed the first known quadruple-organ transplant involving retransplanted lungs in the United States. Elizabeth Wehrle, a 36-year-old mother from Montezuma, Iowa, received two donor lungs for a second time, along with a liver and kidney, after complications from cystic fibrosis and chronic rejection of her first lung transplant left her critically ill. The groundbreaking surgery happened at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and involved a multidisciplinary transplant team uniquely equipped to manage one of the most complex surgical cases ever undertaken.

On March 17, Wehrle was admitted to the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit at Northwestern Memorial and was listed for a quadruple-organ transplant on March 19. Three days later, she received word that four organs were available. Thoracic surgeons started on the double-lung retransplant the evening of March 22, and abdominal surgeons followed in the early morning hours of March 23 with the liver and kidney transplant. 

According to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), Wehrle is the first patient in the United States to receive a quadruple-organ transplant involving retransplanted lungs.

According to SRTR, Northwestern Medicine is the sixth transplant program in the U.S. to perform a quadruple-organ transplant, but the first to perform one with retransplanted lungs.

To date, only seven quadruple-organ transplant procedures have been performed in the U.S. (one transplant center performed two).

Redo lung transplantation is among the most technically challenging procedures in medicine. Previous surgeries create extensive scar tissue, obscuring normal anatomy and making operations significantly more complex.

For Wehrle, the historic surgery represented an opportunity to return to the life she had built with her family after her first transplant in 2017.

“Life was great after my first double-lung transplant,” Wehrle said. “I was a stay-at-home mom, I homeschooled my son, and I was busy with all his activities. I had my life back. But as my health deteriorated, simple daily tasks became overwhelming. There were days that I couldn’t get myself dressed because I just couldn’t breathe.”

Following the transplant in March, Wehrle quickly recovered, with her new lungs, liver and kidney functioning well. In less than three weeks, she was discharged from Northwestern Memorial and began rebuilding her strength. She’s currently walking 3-4 miles per day and doing light weightlifting.

“Before surgery, there was so much tightness in my chest and I couldn’t breathe. Almost immediately after transplant, I felt like a new person,” said Wehrle. “Without my four new organs, I know I wouldn’t be here today.”

Wehrle returned home to Iowa July 17 and was reunited with her 11-year-old son, Landen, who got to experience a Chicago summer when he visited his mom in June. The scars from Wehrle’s surgeries are a visible reminder of her journey and she doesn’t take them for granted.