Breast implants saved a man's life during a lung transplant. Here's how.

A young man seated and wearing a hospital gown and hat pictured next to his partner in a hospital room.

To save a man who needed a double-lung transplant but had a very complicated case, doctors relied on three key tools: antibiotics, an artificial lung and DD-size breast implants.

"I never imagined we'd be using DD breast implants to help bridge a patient to lung transplantation, but our team is known for taking on the most difficult cases and thinking outside the box to save lives," Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery and director of the Canning Thoracic Institute at Northwestern Medicine, said in a statement.