The quality control of lung transplantation involves many aspects, such as team building, selection of recipients, preoperative diagnosis and evaluation of recipients, maintenance of brain-dead donors, evaluation and acquisition of donors, surgical operation, postoperative management and postoperative follow-up. Precision management is the core concept of operation quality control. Only by normalizing the operation quality control of lung transplantation to provide basic guarantee for multi-team cooperation and development of lung transplantation management in the future, building a complete lung transplantation database to excavate data resources and improve the quality of transplantation, and comprehensively building a Chinese lung transplantation quality control system with multi-team participation and cooperation, can we improve the overall level of surgical diagnosis and treatment of lung transplantation in China.
Lung transplantation has been the only valid method in treating end-stage lung diseases, airway complications are the main cause to the failure of surgery and common postoperative complications. With the development on patient selection, organ preservation, surgical technique, immunosuppressive therapy and postoperative surveillance, the successful ratio of surgery has become most satisfactory. However, airway complications are still common after lung transplantation. Among these, the airway anastomosis stenosis is more predominant than others. The living quality and long-dated survival rate are highly improved by paying enough attention to the formation,corresponding management for tracheal stenosis. The progress of the cause, prevention and treatment of airway anastomosis stenosis after lung transplantation is reviewed in this article.
Objective To establish a simple, valid rat orthotopic left lung transplantation model with the improved operation technique. Methods One hundred and thirty-six male SD rats were randomly divided into donor （n = 68） and recipient （n = 68）, transplantation were performed by using the improved cuff anastomosis technique. Results Time of donor lung perfusion-picking, donor lung vessel cuff anastomosis and recipient vessel anastomosis was 13±2 min, 9±1 min, 10±1 min respectively, the operative time was 60±3 min. In 68 rats of operations, successful rate was 88%（60/68）, anastomotic stoma leak in one rat, lung congestion 3 rats, lung atelectasis 4 rats. The shortest survival time was 1 day, there were 53 rats whose survival time was longer than 12 days. The chest computed tomography showed no atelectasis and blood gas analysis manifested good respiratory function. Conclusion The improved three cuff anastomosis technique offers a simple, valid, cheap and useful method,it can establish rat orthotopic left lung transplantation model successfully.
Abstract: Objective To evaluate the clinical effects and health economics of lung volume reduction surgery（LVRS）, single lung transplantation（SLTx） and bilateral lung transplantation（BLTx） for patients with end-stage emphysema. Methods A total of 61 patients with end-stage emphysema, including 39 patients who underwent LVRS（LVRS group）, 14 patients who underwent SLTx（SLTx group）, and 8 patients who underwent BLTx（BLTx group） from September 2002 to August 2008 in Wuxi People’s Hospital, were analyzed retrospectively. Lung function, arterial blood gas analysis and 6-minute walk distance（6-MWD）were assessed before their surgery and 6 months, 1-year and 3-year after their surgery respectively. Their 1-year and 3-year survival rates were observed. Cost-effectiveness analyses were made from a health economics perspective. Results Compared with their preoperative results, their mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second（FEV1.0）in LVRS group increased by 75%, 83% and 49% at 6 months, 1-year and 3-year postoperatively, by 176%, 162% and 100% in SLTx group, and by 260%, 280% and 198% in BLTx group respectively. Their mean forced vital capacity（FVC）in LVRS group increased by 21%, 41% and 40% at 6 months, 1-year and 3-year postoperatively, by 68% , 73% and 55% in SLTx group, and by 82%, 79% and 89% in BLTx group respectively. Their exercise endurance as measured by 6-MWD increased by 75%, 136% and 111% in LVRS group at 6 months, 1-year and 3-year postoperatively, by 513%, 677% and 608% in SLTx group, and by 762%, 880% and 741% in BLTx group respectively. The 1-year and 3-year survival rates after operation were 74.40% and 58.90% in LVRS group, 85.80% and 64.30% in SLTxgroup, and 62.50% and 50.00% in BLTx group respectively. The three years’ cost utility of SLTx group was significantly higher than that of BLTx group（1 668.00 vs.1 168.55, P＜ 0.05）and LVRS group （1 668.00 vs. 549.46, P＜ 0.05）. Conclusion SLTx and BLTx are better than LVRS in improving patients’ lung function and exercise endurance for end-stage emphysema patients. LVRS is more cost-effective than SLTx and BLTx in the early postoperative period. With the development of medical technology and decreased expenses of lung transplantation and immunosuppressive agents, lung transplantation will become the first surgical choice for end-stage emphysema patients.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at the end of December 2019, more than 85% of the population in China has been infected. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mainly affects the respiratory system, especially the lungs. The mortality rate of patients with severe infection is high. A percentage of 6% to 10% of patients will eventually develop into COVID-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS), which requires mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. Some patients who survive acute lung injury will subsequently develop post COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (PCPF). Both fully treated CARDS and severe PCPF are suitable candidates for lung transplantation. Due to the special course, evaluation strategies are different from those used in patients with common end-stage lung disease. After lung transplantation in COVID-19 patients, special treatment is required, including standardized nucleic acid testing for the novel coronavirus, adjustment strategy of immunosuppressive drugs, and rational use of antiviral drugs, which is a big challenge for the postoperative management of lung transplantation. This consensus was evidence-based written and was reached by experts after multiple rounds of discussions, providing reference for assessment and postoperative management of patients with interstitial pneumonia after COVID-19 infection.
Lung transplantation has become an effective treatment for various end-stage lung diseases, which can significantly improve the quality of life and prolong the survival time of patients. However, there are still many challenges in the postoperative management of lung transplantation, which pulmonary infection is the primary factor affecting the survival and quality of life of recipients. This article reviews the common infection types and risk factors of lung transplantation recipients at home and abroad, in order to provide reference for the prevention and treatment of clinical lung transplantation infection.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy of balloon bronchoplasty and metallic stents in lung transplant-related central airway stenosis.MethodsData of lung transplant recipients with central airway stenosis who underwent therapeutic bronchoscopic interventions between January 2011 and June 2019 at our institution were reviewed. The clinical follow-up included dyspnea index, forced expiratory Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), six-minute walk distance (6MWD), and the rate of bronchoscopic dilation.ResultsThirty-four lung transplant recipients with airway stenosis were included in our study. All these patients were treated by balloon bronchoplasty through flexural bronchoscopy, and 7 additionally needed temporary metal stent implantation for 28 to 67 days in order to palliate recurrent central airway stenosis. The percentages of immediate efficacy were 86% (180/209) and 100% (7/7), respectively. After serial balloon dilatation, the recipients with central airway stenosis had significantly lower dyspnea index (3.24±0.55 vs. 1.91±0.62, P<0.01), higher FEV1 ［(1.43±0.21)L vs. (1.72±0.27)L, P<0.01］ and longer 6MWD ［(317.3±61.7)m vs. (372.9±52.6)m, P<0.01］. Six recipients with central airway stenosis received 33 interventions in 6 months before stent implantation and 10 interventions in 6 months after stent extraction.ConclusionsLung transplant recipients with central airway stenosis have a good respond to balloon bronchoplasty and stent placement. Airway stenosis after lung transplantation can be successfully managed with bronchoscopic dilatation and temporary stent placement.
Objective To assess the effects of lung transplantation (LT) in the treatment of end-stage pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and evaluated its impact on quality of life (QoL). Methods A total of 54 patients with end-stage PAH admitted to the LT center of Wuxi People’s Hospital between January 2007 and June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into surgical and non-surgical groups. Clinical data were compared between the groups. The clinical data such as symptoms, signs, biochemistry, survival rate and quality of life were compared between the two groups. The effects of lung transplantation on survival and quality of life were analyzed. The quality of life was scored by SF-36 scale. Results A total of 54 patients with end-stage pulmonary arterial hypertension who met the indications for lung transplantation were enrolled. Among them, 36 patients underwent lung transplantation and 18 patients did not undergo surgery. There were no statistical differences in gender, course of disease, disease type, symptoms between the two groups. The uric acid of the non-operation group was significantly higher than that of the lung transplantation group (P=0.014). The systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) of the non-operation group was significantly lower than that of the lung transplantation group (P=0.046). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the survival rate of the operation group was higher than that of the non-operation group (P=0.0087). The quality of life assessment showed that after lung transplantation, the physical component summary and mental component summary scores of operation group were higher than those before operation (P<0.01), and also higher than non-operation group in the same period (P<0.05). Preoperative low systemic circulation blood pressure, poor cardiac function, high NT-proBNP and high uric acid may be the risk factors for early death of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension after lung transplantation. Conclusions Lung transplantation can effectively improve survival and also QoL for patients with end-stage PH. Early detection of risk factors and preoperative assessment can help improve the perioperative survival.