An Egyptian woman who became the first ever patient to receive a lung transplant in her country has died, hospital officials said on Friday.
They added that the patient, identified only as Sahar, died earlier this week after her body rejected the transplanted lungs.
The lungs, donated by her two brothers, were transplanted last month during a 14-hour operation carried out by Egyptian specialists at a Cairo hospital.
It was hailed at the time as a medical breakthrough for Egypt and the Middle East.
About 70,000 Egyptians are reportedly in need of organ transplants.
Despite attempts by the Egyptian medical establishment to promote organ donation from the recently deceased, such procedures are often rejected due to cultural or religious taboos.
Several prominent Muslim clerics have outlawed it on religious grounds, exacerbating the problem.
The price of a lung transplant can be up to 2.5 million Egyptian pounds ($100,000), doctors said before the surgery. Sahar was not charged.
