Hintergrund
Under the aspect of organ shortage organ retrieval from donors under special
conditions can be considered. We report the case of a lung transplantation from a
donor who was on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support.
Material und Methode
A 46-year-old male donor died of cerebral hypoxemia due to occlusion of the left
anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). During cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
ECMO was established for cardiac failure and continued for 4 days. There was no
knowledge of any other risk factors. The donor lung showed a maximal arterial oxygen
pressure (PaO2) of 378 mmHg and an arterial carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO2) of 41,9
mmHg at 100% O2 and a positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of 9 cmH2O under ECMO
support. Imaging was without pathological findings, there were no signs of pulmonary
infection. On-site evaluation was revealed a regular lung. Bronchoscopy showed only
mild inflammation and secretion. Since ECMO-support didn’t allow to evaluate
the organ’s functionality properly, an intraoperatively blood gas analysis
from the left upper pulmonary vein showed acceptable oxygenation of blood through
the lung. The organ was accepted and successfully transplanted into a 52-year-old
male patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), listed with a lung
allocation score (LAS) of 32,48. Surgery was done sequentially via bilateral
anterolateral thoracotomy without ECMO or heart-lung-machine support.
Ergebnis
The patient was extubated on the first postoperative day. He left the intensive care
unit (ICU) 3 days later. Recovery was uneventful besides the need of cardioversion
due to atrial flatter. His relative one-second capacity increased from 18%
pre-transplant to 112% at 6-months. The patient was released from the hospital 26
days after surgery and has been well since.
Schlussfolgerung
ECMO-support for cardiac failure may not limit the ability to transplant the lung
successfully. Evaluation of the lungs ability to oxygenate blood may be performed
by
obtaining blood gasses from a pulmonary vein.