A technique for donor lung procurement and preservation for transplantation after completion of cardiac donation

The scarcity of donor lungs for transplantation has been caused, in part, by the belief that a single donor cannot provide usable lungs if it serves as a heart donor. However, the appropriate division of the left atrial wall provides sufficient cuffs for individual transplantation of the heart and each lung into three separate recipients. With the described technique, the results of the present studies demonstrate the feasibility of donor lung procurement and preservation for transplantation after cardiac donation. Use of this method will allow the most effective and efficient use of the limited supply of donor organs and thereby permit therapeutic single lung transplantation in selected patients. Cardiac donation should no longer preclude lung donation as it has in the past.