Backtable bronchoplasty for donor tracheal bronchus in lung transplantation

The management of a tracheal bronchus in lung transplantation is poorly studied and ill-defined. We report a case of lung transplantation performed using a donor right lung graft with an apical tracheal bronchus and propose a novel anastomosis technique for this procedure. The neo-upper lobe bronchus created by suturing the apical tracheal bronchus and the upper lobe bronchus of the donor was anastomosed to the upper lobe bronchus of the recipient in a double-barrel fashion. A follow-up at 19 months demonstrated no stenosis of the anastomosis. The advantages and potential disadvantages of this procedure are discussed.