Oslo, Norway. Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on a waiting list for a lung transplant after a significant deterioration in her health, doctors said on Friday. They said the decline in her condition likely left her with only about a year to live without the surgery.
Health condition worsens
The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018. The chronic disease causes scarring in the lungs and reduces oxygen uptake.
Oslo University Hospital said in December that the time was approaching when a transplant would need to be performed, though the crown princess had not yet been placed on Norway’s list of possible recipients.
Doctors outline urgency
In recent months, there had been a “dramatic deterioration” in Mette-Marit’s condition, Oslo University Hospital Professor Are Holm told a press conference on Friday. He said the decline meant she likely had only around a year left to live without a transplant.
“It is a major and demanding operation, and you have to be sick enough to need it, while at the same time healthy enough to withstand the surgery and the difficult course of treatment,” Holm told reporters.
The royal palace said in a statement that Mette-Marit’s condition was “life-threatening”.
Family returns to Oslo
Crown Prince Haakon earlier this week cut short an official visit to Japan and returned home to be with his wife. The couple’s daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, also flew back to Oslo from Australia, where she is a student.
Transplant process in Norway
Around 30 to 35 lung transplants are performed in Norway each year, and the crown princess joins the existing queue like any other patient, the hospital said. It added that the current waiting list is short.
Holm said a successful transplant must meet specific criteria.
“It has to be the right size, it must be the correct blood type, and we have to make sure that the recipient doesn’t have antibodies against the tissue type of the organ,” Holm said.