Effective Application of ET-Kyoto Solution for Clinical Lung
Transplantation
F. Chen, T. Fukuse, S. Hasegawa, T. Bando, N. Hanaoka, M. Kawashima, H. Sakai, H. Hamakawa,
T. Fujinaga, T. Nakamura, and H. Wada
ABSTRACT
The shortage of lung donors and ischemia-reperfusion injury following transplantation
have been grave problems in lung transplantation (LTx). One of the most important
strategies to solve these problems is the development of effective and highly reliable
methods for lung preservation. Therefore, we developed a new organ preservation
solution, namely, the extracellular-type trehalose-containing Kyoto (ET-Kyoto) solu-
tion. Here we report the first experience of clinical application of ET-Kyoto solution
for cadaveric LTx. The recipient was a 38-year-old man with pulmonary emphysema.
The donor was a 51-year-old male current smoker with a smoking history of 62
pack-years. The ventilated donor’s PaO
2
was 340 Torr (FiO
2
= 1.0). The pulmonary
vasculature was flushed with ET-Kyoto solution supplemented with nitroglycerine and
dibutyryl cAMP. The recipient underwent bilateral sequential LTx on cardiopulmonary
bypass. The ischemic time was 544 and 613 minutes for the left and right lung,
respectively. PaO
2
(FiO
2
= 1.0) was 385 Torr immediately after reperfusion. The
donor lung was so large that bilateral partial resections were performed at 413 minutes
(right) and 348 minutes (left) after reperfusion. On histopathologic examination of the
resected transplanted lungs the structure was almost normal. Postoperatively, PaO
2
(FiO
2
= 1.0) was over 400 Torr with or maximum of 526 Torr. The clinical course was
almost uneventful. In conclusion, ET-Kyoto solution may be safely applied in clinical
cadaveric LTx with extended donor lungs and relatively long ischemic times. Func-
tional and histopathological efficiency of ET-Kyoto solution was confirmed. Longer
preservation times with preserved quality using ET-Kyoto solution would increase the
donor pool and enable semielective LTx.
L
UNG TRANSPLANTATION (LTx) is an established
therapeutic procedure for a variety of end-stage lung
diseases. More than 1400 LTx operations are now per-
formed throughout the world each year.
1
On the other
hand, the shortage of lung donors and ischemia-reperfusion
injury following transplantation have been grave problems
in LTx. One of the most important strategies to solve these
problems is the development of effective, highly reliable
methods for lung preservation. Therefore, we have devel-
oped a new organ preservation solution, namely, the extra-
cellular-type trehalose-containing Kyoto (ET-Kyoto) solu-
tion (Table 1).
2
Recently, University of Wisconsin (UW)
solution and low potassium dextran (LPD) solution have
been reported to improve early graft failure.
3,4
UW solution
differs from other two solutions because it contains high
potassium. The major difference between LPD solution and
ET-Kyoto solution is the type of saccharide (ie, glucose
[monosaccharide] and trehalose [nonreducing disaccha-
ride], respectively). Experimentally, trehalose is superior to
glucose for cytoprotection.
5
We herein report the first
experience of clinical application of ET-Kyoto solution for
cadaveric LTx.
From the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto University,
54 Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Address reprint requests to Tatsuo Fukuse, MD, PhD, Depart-
ment of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin, Sakyo-
ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. E-mail: fukuse@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
0041-1345/04/$–see front matter © 2004 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2004.10.005 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710
2812 Transplantation Proceedings, 36, 2812–2815 (2004)