Effect of Lung-Protective Ventilation in Organ Donors on Lung Procurement and Recipient Survival

Rationale: Previous studies have shown that a lung-protective strategy, which aims at minimizing ventilator-induced lung injury (with low Vt/high positive end-expiratory pressure as the main pillars), in selected potential organ donors after brain death increased lung eligibility and procurement.Objectives: This prospective nationwide cohort study aimed to evaluate the impact of lung-protective ventilation (PV) in nonselected donors on lung procurement and recipient survival after lung transplantation.Methods: We included all reported donors aged 18-70 years after brain death without a lung recovery contraindication and with at least one organ recovered between January 2016 and December 2017. PV was defined as Vt ≤8 ml/kg predicted body weight and positive end-expiratory pressure ≥8 cm H₂O. The association between PV at the time of lung proposal (T1) and lung procurement was determined by multivariable logistic regression stratified by propensity score quintile to account for PV and non-PV group differences in baseline characteristics. We studied 1-year survival of recipients from donors with or without PV at T1.Measurements and Main Results: Of 1,626 included lung donors, 1,109 (68%) had at least one lung proposed; 678 (61%) of these had at least one lung recovered. At T1, only 25.6% of donors with at least one lung proposed for lung transplantation were ventilated with a protective strategy. For donors with a lung proposal, the probability of lung procurement was increased with PV at T1 (odds ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.98; P = 0.03). One-year survival did not differ between recipients of lungs from donors with and without PV (82.7%, 95% CI 76.0-87.8% vs. 82.3%, 95% CI 78.5-85.4%; P = 0.94).Conclusions: The use of lung PV in nonselected donors may increase lung procurement. One-year survival did not differ between recipients of lungs from donors with PV or from those without PV.