Lung transplantation after ex vivo lung perfusion in two Scandinavian centres

We reviewed our combined clinical outcome in patients who underwent lung transplantation after ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) and compared it to the contemporary control group.

At 2 Scandinavian centres, lungs from brain-dead donors, not accepted for donation but with potential for improvement, were subjected to EVLP (n = 61) and were transplanted if predefined criteria were met. Transplantation outcome was compared with that of the contemporary control group consisting of patients (n = 271) who were transplanted with conventional donor lungs.

Fifty-four recipients from the regular waiting list underwent transplantation with lungs subjected to EVLP (1 bilateral lobar, 7 single and 46 double). In the EVLP and control groups, arterial oxygen tension/inspired oxygen fraction ratio at arrival in the intensive care unit (ICU) was 30 ± 14 kPa compared to 36 ± 14 (P = 0.005); median time to extubation was 18 h (range 2-912) compared to 7 (range 0-2280) (P = 0.002); median ICU length of stay was 4 days (range 2-65) compared to 3 days (range 1-156) (P = 0.002); Percentage of expected forced expiratory volume at 1s (FEV1.0%) at 1 year was 75 ± 29 compared to 81 ± 26 (P = 0.18); and the 1-year survival rate was 87% [confidence interval (CI) 82-92%] compared to 83% (CI 81-85), respectively. Follow-up to a maximum of 5 years did not show any significant difference in survival between groups (log rank, P = 0.63).

Patients transplanted with lungs after EVLP showed outcomes comparable to patients who received conventional organs at medium-term follow-up. Although early outcome immediately after transplantation showed worse lung function in the EVLP group, no differences were observed at a later stage, and we consider EVLP to be a safe method for increasing the number of transplantable organs.