[Lung transplantation in Pavia. Clinical experience]

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Transplantation Medicine

Background:

• Lung transplantation has a long history of research and development, remaining a high-risk procedure.
• Initial experience involved heart-lung transplantation for combined vascular and parenchymal lung diseases.
• The scarcity of heart-lung blocks and positive outcomes from other centers led to the expansion of isolated lung transplantation indications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the experience with single and bilateral lung transplantation at a specialized center.
• To discuss patient selection criteria, donor and recipient characteristics, and perioperative variables.
• To emphasize immunosuppression, rejection diagnosis, and airway suture complications.

Main Methods:

• Review of 12 single and 12 bilateral lung transplantations performed between February 1992 and the report date.
• Analysis of selection criteria, preoperative patient and donor data, and perioperative variables.
• Detailed examination of immunosuppression protocols, rejection diagnosis methods, and airway complications.

Main Results:

• The study details the application of single and bilateral lung transplantation for both parenchymal and vascular lung diseases.
• Emphasis is placed on immunosuppression strategies, diagnosis of rejection, and management of airway suture complications.
• The report includes comprehensive data on donor and recipient characteristics and perioperative variables.

Conclusions:

• Lung transplantation has advanced significantly, offering solutions for severe lung diseases.
• The center has successfully performed both single and bilateral lung transplants for various conditions.
• The study provides insights into current indications for different lung transplant types based on preoperative diagnosis.