Xenogeneic cross-circulation for extracorporeal recovery of injured human lungs. Nature medicine Hozain, A. E., O'Neill, J. D., Pinezich, M. R., Tipograf, Y., Donocoff, R., Cunningham, K. M., Tumen, A., Fung, K., Ukita, R., Simpson, M. T., Reimer, J. A., Ruiz, E. C., Queen, D., Stokes, J. W., Cardwell, N. L., Talackine, J., Kim, J., Snoeck, H., Chen, Y., Romanov, A., Marboe, C. C., Griesemer, A. D., Guenthart, B. A., Bacchetta, M., Vunjak-Novakovic, G. 2020; 26 (7): 1102–13

Abstract

Patients awaiting lung transplantation face high wait-list mortality, as injury precludes the use of most donor lungs. Although ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) is able to recover marginal quality donor lungs, extension of normothermic support beyond 6h has been challenging. Here we demonstrate that acutely injured human lungs declined for transplantation, including a lung that failed to recover on EVLP, can be recovered by cross-circulation of whole blood between explanted human lungs and a Yorkshire swine. This xenogeneic platform provided explanted human lungs a supportive, physiologic milieu and systemic regulation that resulted in functional and histological recovery after 24h of normothermic support. Our findings suggest that cross-circulation can serve as a complementary approach to clinical EVLP to recover injured donor lungs that could not otherwise be utilized for transplantation, as well as a translational research platform for immunomodulation and advanced organ bioengineering.

View details for DOI 10.1038/s41591-020-0971-8

View details for PubMedID 32661401