Lung transplantation has developed in China for nearly half a century. The Wuxi lung transplant team completed our first lung transplantation on September 28, 2002. By the year of 2021, the total number of lung transplantation in China has been increased to 775, while 49 medical centers have been qualified to perform lung transplantation. During the past two decades, we vigorously promoted lung transplantation technique, cooperated and communicated with colleagues in relevant specialties. Thus, more and more patients with end-stage lung diseases could be evaluated and transplanted to save their lives, with the support of medical insurance and funds. The full-process monitoring and staged objective management, have been well established regarding to donor evaluation standards and acquisition procedures, the green channel for organ transportation, postoperative intensive care unit management, prevention of rejection and infection, as well as long-term follow-up of recipients. Based on the classical lung transplantation surgical techniques, technical breakthroughs have been made while the public’s acknowledgement of lung transplantation has been also enhanced. In the future, lung transplantation techniques will be increasingly challenged by new technologies and ethics, bringing diversified opportunities and challenges to the lung transplantation team collaboration.
Objective To summarize the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of severe primary graft dysfunction ( PGD grade 3 ) in early stage after lung transplantation. Methods From September 2002 to December 2010, there were 10 patients with severe PGD ( grade 3) in early stage after lung transplantation ( LTx) in 100 patients with end-stage lung disease underwent LTx in Wuxi People’s Hospital. In which there were 2 cases with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 4 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,1 case with lung tuberculosis, 1 case with silicosis, 2 cases with bronchiectasis. There were 7 patients with single LTx [ 3 cases with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ( ECMO) support] and 3 patients with bilateral LTx ( 1 case with ECMO support) . Results The surgical procedures of these 10 patients were successful, however severe PGD occurred on 1-5 days after operation. 4 cases died of respiratory failure with negative fluid balance and mechanical ventilation support, and 2 cases recovered. 4 cases underwent ECMO support, in which 2 cases successfully weaned from ECMO and discharged from hospital, others died of multiple organ failure.Conclusions Severe PGD is one of the fatal early complication after lung transplantation. Early diagnosis and treatment are very important to improve the perioperative mortality rate.
Abstract: Objective To evaluate the clinical effects and health economics of lung volume reduction surgery（LVRS）, single lung transplantation（SLTx） and bilateral lung transplantation（BLTx） for patients with end-stage emphysema. Methods A total of 61 patients with end-stage emphysema, including 39 patients who underwent LVRS（LVRS group）, 14 patients who underwent SLTx（SLTx group）, and 8 patients who underwent BLTx（BLTx group） from September 2002 to August 2008 in Wuxi People’s Hospital, were analyzed retrospectively. Lung function, arterial blood gas analysis and 6-minute walk distance（6-MWD）were assessed before their surgery and 6 months, 1-year and 3-year after their surgery respectively. Their 1-year and 3-year survival rates were observed. Cost-effectiveness analyses were made from a health economics perspective. Results Compared with their preoperative results, their mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second（FEV1.0）in LVRS group increased by 75%, 83% and 49% at 6 months, 1-year and 3-year postoperatively, by 176%, 162% and 100% in SLTx group, and by 260%, 280% and 198% in BLTx group respectively. Their mean forced vital capacity（FVC）in LVRS group increased by 21%, 41% and 40% at 6 months, 1-year and 3-year postoperatively, by 68% , 73% and 55% in SLTx group, and by 82%, 79% and 89% in BLTx group respectively. Their exercise endurance as measured by 6-MWD increased by 75%, 136% and 111% in LVRS group at 6 months, 1-year and 3-year postoperatively, by 513%, 677% and 608% in SLTx group, and by 762%, 880% and 741% in BLTx group respectively. The 1-year and 3-year survival rates after operation were 74.40% and 58.90% in LVRS group, 85.80% and 64.30% in SLTxgroup, and 62.50% and 50.00% in BLTx group respectively. The three years’ cost utility of SLTx group was significantly higher than that of BLTx group（1 668.00 vs.1 168.55, P＜ 0.05）and LVRS group （1 668.00 vs. 549.46, P＜ 0.05）. Conclusion SLTx and BLTx are better than LVRS in improving patients’ lung function and exercise endurance for end-stage emphysema patients. LVRS is more cost-effective than SLTx and BLTx in the early postoperative period. With the development of medical technology and decreased expenses of lung transplantation and immunosuppressive agents, lung transplantation will become the first surgical choice for end-stage emphysema patients.
Objective To investigate the experience of operative technique of donor organ harvesting and lung transplantation in some unusual circumstance, and to improve surgical success ratio of lung transplantation. Methods Lung transplants were preformed in 65 cases, including 47 singlelung transplants and 18 double single lung transplants. All the recipients were suffered from intensive respiratory failure,and nine patients were longterm ventilatordependented of the total. The recipients included emphysema (n=23), pulmonary fibrosis (n=24), pneumosilicosis(n=5), pulmonary tuberculosis(n=2), lymphangioleiomyomatosis(n=1) and ventricular septal defect(VSD) or VSD with Eisenmenger’s syndrome(n=4),bronchiectasis (n=4), diffuse panbronchiolitis (n=1) and primary pulmonary hypertension(n=1). Retrospectively summarize clinical experience of lung transplant operation especially experience of dealing with special circumstances encountered in operation. Results 64 donor organ harvesting were achieved successfully. Inhospital death was 11cases (16.9%) after operation. Early death was due to primary lung graft dysfunction (n=3), severe infection(n=6), acute rejection(n=1), pulmonary vein embolism(n=1). Complications took place after operation in 9 cases, to exploratory thoracotomy to stop bleeding after transplantation in 3 cases, pulmonary artery anastomosis again because of stenosis in 1 case, bronchus stoma stenosis in 3 cases, pulmonary infarction in 2 cases, of which one patient accepted pulmonary lobectomy. Follow-up period was from 1.0 year to 5.6 years of 54 cases. 1year survival rate was 72.3%（47/65）.The pulmonary function was improved and the quality of life is well in most patients of the group. Conclusion To improve the technique of donor organ harvesting and lung transplantation is important to decrease the early mortality after transplantation.
As the aging proceeds worldwide, aging lung transplantation recipients have been increased dramatically. Aging population with end-stage lung diseases also have comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, which may impact the prognosis of lung transplantation. Recent researches on lung transplantation have explored the characteristics of aging recipients, strategy selection on transplantation and cardiovascular disease management, as well as risk factors for post-transplantation complications and death. However, researches on lung transplantation recipients with cardiac valve disease are just in the initial stage. With the advancement of transcatheter technique, more patients will be benefited. We summarized the advancement in this field and took an outlook for future clinical researches.
Lung transplantation has been proved to be an effective treatment after more than forty years of fast development, while more than 4000 cases of lung transplantation performed globally each year. Recently, lung transplantation in China has been advanced rapidly, and the number of transplants has increased year by year. Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine team has been recognized to play a crucial role in lung transplantation. It has an irreplaceable role and status in promoting lung transplantation, improving the preoperative evaluation of lung transplantation and the maintenance of donors, and carrying out perioperative management, as well as long-term follow-up. Lung transplantation is a systematic project, requiring the perfect cooperation and collaboration of team members and contributing to recipients’ recovery.
[Abstract]It is an effective way of constructing a lung transplantation quality control system suitable for China's national conditions to break through the many dilemmas in China. Under the leadership of the National Quality Control Center, a stage-by-stage and full-scale quality control system for lung transplantation in China has been gradually constructed and extended to many lung transplantation centers nationwide, which has strongly promoted the development of lung transplantation in China. This article outlines the construction, promotion and experience of China's lung transplantation quality control system, aiming to provide reference for further development of relevant measures to promote the homogenization of lung transplantation in China.
With the deepening of current study and the innovation of perioperative management concept, there have been great advances in lung transplantation in recent years. The prognosis of patients has been significantly improved. At the same time, the role of various types of blood purification in the clinical monitoring and treatment of lung transplant patients is becoming increasingly prominent. This review aims to summarize the application and latest progress of in vitro blood purification such as renal replacement therapy, plasmapheresis and hemadsorption in the perioperative period of lung transplantation, and to provide a basis for further study.
Objective To compare outcomes after single versus bilateral lung transplantation in patients with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with retrospective cohort study, and to provide a reference for surgical selection. Methods One hundred and two patients with end-stage COPD who received lung transplantation in Wuxi People's Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from January 2010 to May 2019 were evaluated, including 97 males and 5 females, aged from 42 to 82 years, with an average age of (59.8±8.0) years. Recipients were divided into single lung transplantation (SLT) group (31 cases) and bilateral lung transplantation (BLT) group (71 cases). Preoperative characteristics, postoperative outcomes, postoperative complications, functional improvement and survival between the two groups were analyzed retrospectively. Results The SLT group were significantly older than the BLT group [(62.6±8.8) years vs. (58.6±7.4) years, P<0.05], which was consistent with the practice mode of single lung transplantation in the elderly patients in this center. The FEV1% predicted and the six‐minute walk distance (6-MWD) in the BLT group were better than those in the SLT group (P<0.05). The cumulative survival rate in 1, 3 and 5 years after operation in the BLT group was higher than that in the SLT group (70.4%, 63.2%, 61.5%, respectively vs. 67.7%, 58.1%, 54.6%, respectively), but there was no statistical difference (P=0.388). The two groups were comparable in other preoperative clinical data (P>0.05). The cold ischemia time and total operation time were shorter in the SLT group than in the BLT group, and the intraoperative blood loss was less than that in the BLT group, but more patients required intraoperative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support than the BLT group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in postoperative ventilator support, reoperation, length of intensive care unit stay, postoperative hospital stay, and perioperative mortality (P>0.05). In terms of postoperative complications, the incidence of primary graft dysfunction grades 3 was higher in the SLT group than in the BLT group (35% vs. 8%, P=0.001). There were no significant differences between the two groups in chest complications, airway complications, acute rejection, infection, and bronchial occlusion syndrome (P>0.05). Nine patients (29%) developed acute native lung hyperinflation in the SLT group. ConclusionsBilateral lung transplantation is superior to single lung transplantation in the treatment of end-stage COPD. The advantage is mainly reflected in the simple perioperative management, better functional improvement after operation. Single lung transplantation as a beneficial supplement to double lung transplantation should still be considered in selected patients.