World's 1st Rotated Lung Transplant Succeeds

[Fr Pat]

Yomiuri Shinbun (Japan) 16 May, 2014
     KYOTO-- The world's first living donor lung transplant using part of a donor's right lung to replace a recipient's left lung was successfully completed at Kyoto University Hospital, the hospital said Wednesday.
    The entire left lung of a female patient who developed an intractable lung disease was removed, and replaced by the lower lobe of her husband's right lung.
     According to Prof. Horoshi Date, who performed the operation, the patient in her 40's from the Kansai region developed a type of idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis, which causes respiratory distress due to the hardening of the ling tissue.
     She decided to receive a lung transplant, involving the replacement of her severely afflicted left lung with a segment of her husband's lung.
     The medical team had initially planned to extract his lower left lobe, but found the size was too small and the desired treatment effects would not be achieved.
     They therefore decided to transplant his right lower lobe instead, which was about 20% larger.
     If a right lung lobe is rotated to replace the left lung, the length and direction of the blood vessels do not fit, which greatly complicates the operation.
     In preparation, the team created models using a 3-D printer that precisely reproduced the positions of lungs, hearts and blood vessels of the patient and her husband based on computed tomography data.
     Surgical procedures were discussed using the models, and then were carried out in early March.
     According to the hospital, the recipient is steadily recovering and was discharged from the hospital on May 10. Her husband also returned to work.
     Date said, "Though there have been instances in the past where patients gave up because the donor's lungs were small, there is the possibility that such cases can be treated."