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Autotransplantation of the lung: experimental studies on the cape baboon
Abstract
Autotransplantation of the left lung was performed on 15 adult baboons with an 8-day survival rate of 80% and a long-term survival rate of 60%. On 5 of the survivors a subsequent contralateral pneumonectomy was performed without mortality. Most deaths occurred early in the series due to technical problems. A surgical technique has been standardized and with further experience in this field the mortality associated with autotransplantation of the lung in baboons should be less than 10%. Xenon-l33 ventilation-perfusion studies of the transplanted lung demonstrated a significant reduction in perfusion, and to a lesser extent of ventilation. Ventilation rapidly recovered towards normal but perfusion only approached normal values several months after transplantation. These physiological alterations may be due to the denervation attendant upon complete removal of tlu lung with reimplantation. The jilt! imbalance does not appear to be of major consequence when a contralateral pneumonectomy is performed. The autotransplanted lung appears to be a valuable model for studying the effects of lung transplantation alone, without the problems of rejection. These studies seem to be particularly valuable in the primate who closely resembles the human anatomically and physiologically. Further studies are currently in progress.
