Our history from the starting line of research to the goal for clinical application of lung preservation solution

Abstract

When I started the research of lung preservation in 1975, clinical lung transplantation itself was not yet generalized clinically even in the western world. After starting the research, left lung preservations and transplantations were carried out week after week to clarify the optimum conditions using canine lung. Electrolyte composition and the colloid osmotic pressure of the solution, the mode of perfusion or ventilation were mainly examined in various combined manner. As a consequence, it was suggested that the replacement of pulmonary vasculature by the extracelluler type crystalloid solution having colloid osmosis with the positive airway inflation was the most appropriate condition for cold lung preservation based on research works continued more than 10 years. These results were verified again with the primate model of bilateral lung transplantation, and 25 years after starting the experiment, the preservation solution developed by vast series of experiments finally applied to the clinical lung transplantation in 2000.