With this method, they have successfully revived and transplanted 600 lungs in the past decade, said Dr. Marcelo Cypel, a lung transplant surgeon at the University of Toronto. But there are limitations: the lungs can be maintained in this way only for hours, not days. And few lungs can be rescued.
“If you have more time, you have more time to repair the injuries,” said Dr. Cypel. “You can’t reverse pneumonia in just four or six hours. But if you keep the lung for a few days, you can do it. “
So Dr. Vunjak-Novakovic and his group decided that instead of making new lungs, they could improve this method. It was becoming clear that in order to recover, the lungs needed not only a ventilator but also a body – to remove metabolic waste and deliver the energy necessary to keep the organ alive and restore it to health.
The solution? A pig to support the lung while recovering. In animal experiments, the researchers managed to keep damaged pig’s lungs by “breathing” for four days, long enough for even severely damaged lungs to repair.
The scientists were finally ready to test their method on human lungs. The six organs they received, which surgeons rejected everywhere, suffered serious damage. One had no longer improved after six hours of treatment with the original method, a ventilator and nutrient fluid.
But 24 hours after the procedures began, all six lungs looked bright pink and healthy. Laboratory tests showed that the lung cells had recovered.
“The pig was able to keep the lung alive and allow it to repair itself,” said Dr. Bacchetta.
The researchers said that the blood of pigs offers advantages and disadvantages over that of human patients. Lung transplant patients are very sick, for example, and may not be able to tolerate having a large tube attached to their necks.
