[Bridge to lung transplantation with a novel pumpless lung assist device. Report of one case]

Devices such as Novalung can be used as a bridge to lung transplantation while waiting for a suitable donor. We report a 50 year-old male with a terminal pulmonary fibrosis and candidate for lung transplantation. He was admitted to the hospital due to a severe deterioration of his respiratory condition, with the presence of severe respiratory acidosis despite conventional invasive respiratory support. Respiratory support with Novalung was started, resulting in a progressive reduction of pCO2 that became normal ten hours after the installation of the device. Five days later a successful lung transplantation was performed.