Lung in a Box: Ex Vivo Lung Transplantation

THE HIGHEST NUMBER of recorded lung transplants in the United States was reached in 2015 with 2,072 lungs transplanted. Despite this increase, waitlist mortality is at the highest ever, with 16.5 deaths per 100 waitlist years.1 Only 65.3% of transplant candidates receive an organ within 1 year of appearing on the wait list. Nearly 7.5% of harvested lungs are discarded,2 and many donated lungs are rejected, representing an area of potential growth for the donor pool. Newer technologies such as ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) seek to improve the function of abandoned organs to increase the number of viable lungs for transplant.
Source: Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Case Conference Source Type: research