Original article
Liberalization of donor criteria in lung and heart-lung transplantation

https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-4975(94)90371-9Get rights and content

Abstract

Since March 1986, we have performed 26 heart-lung transplantations, 42 single-lung transplantations, 9 bilateral single-lung transplantations, and 1 double-lung transplantation. The original lung donor requirements were as follows: age less than 40 years, no smoking history; no gram-negative rods or fungus on sputum Gram stain; arterial oxygen tension greater than 140 mm Hg on an inspired oxygen fraction of 0.40; no infiltrate or pneumothorax on the chest radiograph; and donor height within 15 cm (6 inches) of recipient height. As the number of potential recipients increased, so did the waiting time. To counter this delay, during the past year we have liberalized our donor criteria. We now accept lung donors up to age 60 years. Any kind of smoking history is acceptable unless there is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or pulmonary fibrosis on the chest radiograph. Sputum must be free from fungus, but gram-negative rods are treated with appropriate antibiotics. The arterial oxygen tension on an inspired oxygen fraction of 0.40 should be greater than 100 mm Hg, and a small pulmonary infiltrate is not worrisome. This liberalization of the donor pool for lung and heart-lung transplantation has not adversely affected early outcome.

References (6)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (73)

  • Survival Outcomes of Lung Transplant Recipients From Donors With Abnormal Kidney Function

    2023, Annals of Thoracic Surgery
    Citation Excerpt :

    Furthermore, the lung survival Kaplan-Meier curves for the three groups demonstrate no significant difference after adjusting for covariates. Currently, only 5% to 20% of donors meet the standard criteria for donation.3-6 Several programs have expanded the donor criteria to include “marginal donors.”5,6

  • Clinical neurology in lung transplantation

    2014, Handbook of Clinical Neurology
  • Lung Transplant Donor Selection and Management

    2010, Medical Management of the Thoracic Surgery Patient
  • Lung Transplant Donor Selection and Management

    2009, Medical Management of the Thoracic Surgery Patient
View all citing articles on Scopus

Presented at the Poster Session of the Twenty-ninth Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, San Antonio, TX, Jan 25–27, 1993.

View full text