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Updated: Dec 27, 2025
Donor Posterior Atrial Flap Rotation for Left Atrial Cuff Reconstruction in Lung Transplantation
Published on: October 11, 2024
Operative Techniques and Pitfalls in Donor Bilateral Lung Procurement
Alex R Dalal1, Daniel E Rinewalt1, John W MacArthur1
1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
Background:
Demand for lung transplant continues to grow nationally, and the number of donation after brain death and donation after circulatory death lung procurements increases each year.
Methods:
We describe the Stanford technique for bilateral lung procurement for donation after brain death and donation after circulatory death and highlight the pitfalls and common mistakes to standardize the procurement process and ensure proper harvesting to prevent organ loss.
Results:
Damage to the lung graft during bilateral en bloc procurement most commonly results from either poor preservation or injury to a pulmonary vein during division of the left atrial cuff.
Conclusion:
En bloc bilateral lung procurement should be standardized to ensure reproducible graft harvesting and preservation while teaching new generations of transplant surgeons.
