Lungs have been successfully “reconditioned” to make them suitable for transplanting, a team of Canadian doctors has claimed.
Up to 80% of donated lungs have sustained damage during death or intensive care treatments.
The team from Toronto General Hospital was able to keep lungs stable outside the body long enough to repair them.
“This has allowed us to progress from preserving donor lungs to actually being able to repair some of the injury before transplantation,” according to Dr Marcelo Cypel, a transplant specialist at Toronto General Hospital. “And we have done this using a unique strategy on donor lungs outside the body.”
The Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System technique involves pumping a bloodless solution containing oxygen, proteins and nutrients into the damaged donor lungs, which are protected in a special chamber. This allows the surgeons the opportunity to assess and treat injured donor lungs, while they are outside the body.
A British team, at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, are using a similar technique. They only allow the donor lungs to remain outside the body for a maximum of two hours, and use the time to assess in detail whether or not they are suitable for transplant.
However, the Toronto team, working with a company called Vitrolife, keeps the lungs for up to 12 hours.
So far four patients in Toronto have received lungs treated using this technique, and all have done well. Three were given donor lungs which already met transplant standards, but which were improved by the team. The fourth was given lungs which were not suitable for transplant before the XVIVO technique was used on them.
A SHORT, QUICK ASIDE
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day, but here’s a reminder that, in less than one week, we have a fantastic gift yet to be received: that of a brand new year!
But not just any ‘new year’. You all know the significance of the inauguration, meeting the challenges we’re facing at home, the prospect of finally seeing an end to this war in Iraq, and more.
As we see the positive and significant changes and modifications taking place nationally and globally this coming year, why not make it a resolution to provide the same for ourselves individually?
Now, if we stick to that “resolution”, we’ll have given ourselves a gift that’ll pay some tremendous dividends all year long!
Okay … more in less than 24. So remember:
‘When ya feel the shadow crossing, the Eagle’s in the air …‘
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