Successful lung donation at the age of 6 weeks: Challenges and lessons learned

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

A clinical case of successful procurement and transplantation of bilateral lungs from 6‐week‐old infant with sepsis secondary to bacterial meningitis is reported. Forty‐one‐day‐old male infant (height 60 cm, weight 4 kg) died of cerebral edema secondary to Escherichia coli meningitis and bacteremia. Preretrieval assessment included the following: arterial gases; pO2 50.4 kPa (378 mm Hg), pCO2 4.9 kPa (37 mm Hg), on FiO2 100%, PEEP 5 cm H2O. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy showed no secretions nor mucosal inflammation; CXR revealed clear lung fields and pleural spaces. Inspection revealed dense adhesions in pericardial cavity and purulent left hemithorax effusion (urgent Gram‐stain came back as negative) but there was no consolidation in the lung. Good compliance of the lungs on inflation/deflation test was observed. The lungs were retrieved using the technique described. The recipient was a 4‐month‐old infant with alveolar capillary dysplasia and malaligned pulmonary veins. Implantation of the lungs was performed via bilateral thoracosternotomy on cardiopulmonary bypass, cooling to 30°C. Elective support with nitric oxide was used postoperatively. Two years after the transplantation, the recipient doing well with normal lung function. Lung procurement from a 6‐week donor with infectious complications and prolonged ventilation is a challenging undertaking but can be successful and should be attempted whenever possible given the paucity of organs available for pediatric recipients.