Assessment of lungs rejected for transplantation and implications for donor selection.
Present criteria for donor-lung selection exclude more than 85% of lungs. We aimed to establish if potentially suitable lungs are rejected for transplantation. We obtained 29 pairs of rejected lungs and assessed them by physiological, microbiological, and histological methods. Most donor lungs had no or mild pulmonary oedema (24/29 [83%]), intact alveolar fluid clearance (17/23 [74%]), and normal or mildly abnormal histological findings (18/29 [62%]). When all factors were considered, including microbiological and non-lung donor factors, 12 (41%) of 29 pairs of rejected lungs would have been potentially suitable for transplantation. Our findings emphasise the urgent need for prospective scientific assessment of selection of donors for lung transplantation.
Ware
Lorraine B
LB
Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, T1217 MCN, Nashville, TN 37232-2650, USA. lorraine.ware@vanderbilt.edu
Wang
Yibing
Y
Fang
Xiaohui
X
Warnock
Martha
M
Sakuma
Tsutomu
T
Hall
Timothy S
TS
Matthay
Michael
M
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data