Successful retrieval and function of lungs from non-heart-beating donors.
BACKGROUND
Lung transplantation has been used effectively as a therapeutic tool in end-stage pulmonary diseases, but organ shortages have restricted its use. There is growing interest in alternative organ sources such as organs from circulation-arrested cadavers, so called non-heart-beating donors.


METHODS
We examined the effects of postmortem rapid in situ cadaver lung cooling by bilateral chest cavity flushing (group 2) and by pulmonary artery flush through right heart catheterization followed by pleural cavity flushing (group 3) on pulmonary function and morphology in a rabbit non-heart-beating donor model. The results were compared with those in a control group of heart-beating donors (group 1).


RESULTS
At the end of a 2-hour reperfusion period, there were no significant differences in mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, pulmonary compliance, arteriovenous oxygen, pulmonary wet to dry weight ratio, and lung morphology between the three groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrates that using bilateral chest cavity flushing with or without pulmonary flush protects the function and morphology of cadaver lungs and renders them suitable for lung transplantation.
Department of Pathology, The Montreal General Hospital and McGill University, Quebec, Canada.
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Shennib
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JQ
Kuang
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Giaid
D000818:Animals; D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008170:Lung Compliance / Q000502:physiology; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D009926:Organ Preservation / Q000379:methods; D011817:Rabbits; D014022:Tissue Survival / Q000502:physiology; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting