Update on ischemia-reperfusion injury in lung transplantation

Primary graft failure, which represents one of the most frequent causes of early mortality, is mostly caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). IRI may also induce rejection, which is the principal cause of mortality after transplantation. It is essential to understand the mechanism of pulmonary IRI for improving the outcomes of lung transplantation, and therefore we reviewed the state of the art concerning pulmonary IRI in lung transplantation.

Numerous strategies have been conducted to reduce IRI after lung transplantation both from the experimental and clinical aspects. The greatest efforts have been done in the method of lung preservation and reperfusion. Recently, ex-vivo lung perfusion system was developed and has been clinically introduced. Furthermore, more experimental studies to understand the pathophysiology of IRI and to alleviate lung IRI have been performed worldwide, and various new treatment modalities including inhalation therapy with therapeutic gases and substances, fibrinolytic treatment, subzero preservation, and mesenchymal stromal cell therapy are going to be applied to the clinical practice.

IRI, whose pathophysiology remains incompletely understood, is one of the most critical phenomena in lung transplantation, and therefore more studies to control pulmonary IRI are required for improving the outcomes of lung transplantation.