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Publication

Assessment and management of donor lungs for transplantation

Book - Dissertation

Lung transplantation (Ltx) is the only life-saving treatment for selected patients with end-stage pulmonary disease. Donor organ shortage and primary graft dysfunction (due to ischemia-reperfusion injury) are two major obstacles in the early stages of LTX that might limit the outcome. Therefeore, optimization of donor organ quality and expansion of the donor pool are crucial. The first objective of this research proposal is to study the current assessment and acceptance criteria and to develop future algorithms in order to further improve organ retrieval and transplantation. Therefore, all human donor lungs (organs retrieved for clinical transplantation and rejected organs procured for research only) will be assessed by ex vivo CT-scan. In addition, the rejected human lungs will be further analyzed by ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) to investigate molecular mechanisms and possible reconditioning. Our concurrent second objective is to further optimize the technique of ex vivo lung perfusion and to define strategies to recondition organs outside the donor/recipient, prior to transplantation (preclinical large animal model). Specific interest will be focused on the effect of gravity during EVLP and different types of organ donors (DBD, DCD). Mechanistic insights will be obtained using state-of-the art molecular biology.
Publication year:2020
Accessibility:Open