• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.313-318
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• 2022

Fewer patients undergo pediatric lung transplantation (PLT) than adult lung transplantation. Size mismatch is the key factor that limits the availability of potential donors. Every candidate for PLT is in a different scenario in terms of age, height and weight, size of structures, indications for PLT, the concomitant presence of a cardiac anomaly, and other individual-specific factors; thus, a thorough understanding of pediatric patients' medical problems is essential. Living-donor lobar lung transplantation (LDLLT) has only been performed once in Korea to date. However, since each step in the LDLLT is a well-established procedure, including intrapericardial lobectomy, lung procurement, and lobar lung transplantation, qualified surgeons and lung transplantation teams are competent to perform LDLLT in clinically necessary situations.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.293-300
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• 2022

Lung transplantation is the only treatment option for patients with end-stage lung disease. Although more than 4,000 lung transplants are performed every year worldwide, the standardized protocols contain no guidelines for monitoring during lung transplantation. Specific anesthetic concerns are associated with lung transplantation, especially during critical periods, including anesthesia induction, the initiation of positive pressure ventilation, the establishment and maintenance of one-lung ventilation, pulmonary artery clamping, pulmonary artery unclamping, and reperfusion of the transplanted lung. Anesthetic management according to the special risks associated with a patient's existing lung disease and surgical stage is the most important factor. Successful anesthesia in lung transplantation can improve hemodynamic stability, oxygenation, ventilation, and outcomes. Therefore, anesthesiologists must have expertise in transesophageal echocardiography, extracorporeal life support, and cardiopulmonary anesthesia and understand the pathophysiology of end-stage lung disease and the drugs administered. In addition, communication among anesthesiologists, surgeons, and perfusionists during surgery is important to achieve optimal patient results.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.255-264
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• 2022

Globally, thousands of patients undergo lung transplantation owing to end-stage lung disease each year. As lung transplantation evolves, recommendations and indications are constantly being updated. In 2021, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation published a new consensus document for selecting candidates for lung transplantation. However, it is still difficult to determine appropriate candidates for lung transplantation among patients with complex medical conditions and various diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze each patient's overall situation and medical condition from various perspectives, and ongoing efforts to optimize the analysis will be necessary. The purpose of this study is to review the extant literature and discuss recent updates.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.277-282
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• 2022

Lung transplantation is a life-saving procedure in patients with end-stage lung disease. However, it inherently depends on the availability of donor organs. The selection of suitable lungs for transplantation, management of donors to minimize further injury and improve organ function, and safe procurement remain critical for successful transplantation. In this review, we provide an update on the current understanding of donor selection, management, and lung procurement.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.357-360
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• 2022

Patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) may exhibit pulmonary fibrosis after the viral illness resolves. Some of these patients may experience severe functional lung impairment, and thus require transplants to prevent death or maintain a tolerable quality of life. Considering the reversibility of COVID-19 ARDS, lung transplant candidates are observed for 1-2 months and must be selected very carefully before transplantation. As the short-term outcomes of such patients are comparable to those of patients with other indications for transplantation, lung transplantation should be actively considered.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.301-306
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• 2022

Surgical approaches to lung transplantation in adults vary substantially among surgeons and institutions, but the underlying principles are consistent. This article provides a surgical overview of bilateral sequential lung transplantation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.88-95
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• 2000

Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis is a chronic destruct8ive disease of the lung affecting women of childbearing ages which eventually leads to respiratory failure. Lung transplantation is the only conclusive therapeutic measure because this disease responds poorly to other therapies, To date only a few reports in the literature describes the clinical experience of the bilateral sequential lung transplantation of this rare condition. We performed a bilateral sequential lung transplantation on a 32-year-old woman suffering from lymphangioleiomyo-matosisw. The heart-lung block was harvested from a 51-year-old donor. We transplanted the left lung first through the clam-shell incision. As the hemodynamics deteriorated suddenly during the dissection of the right lung the right lung was transplanted under the cardio-pulmonary bypass. Although the patient's lung function was initially satisfactory the patient died of sepsis and subsequent cardiogenic shock at the postoperative 18th day. Autopsy findings showed infection of Candida albicans on the pericardium and the left lung which had been initiated possibly from the left bronchial anastomosis site,. Through detailed review of the clinical course we concluded that lung transplantation could have been performed safely on this disease provided that early diagnosis and proper management or the oppor-tunistic infection have been carried out.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.325-331
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• 2022

Postoperative critical care management for lung transplant recipients in the intensive care unit (ICU) has expanded in recent years due to its complexity and impact on clinical outcomes. The practical aspects of post-transplant critical care management, especially regarding ventilation and hemodynamic management during the early postoperative period in the ICU, are discussed in this brief review. Monitoring in the ICU provides information on the patient's clinical status, diagnostic assessment of complications, and future management plans since lung transplantation involves unique pathophysiological conditions and risk factors for complications. After lung transplantation, the grafts should be appropriately ventilated with lung protective strategies to prevent ventilator-induced lung injury, as well as to promote graft function and maintain adequate gas exchange. Hypotension and varying degrees of pulmonary edema are common in the immediate postoperative lung transplantation setting. Ventricular dysfunction in lung transplant recipients should also be considered. Therefore, adequate volume and hemodynamic management with vasoactive agents based on their physiological effects and patient response are critical in the early postoperative lung transplantation period. Integrated management provided by a professional multidisciplinary team is essential for the critical care management of lung transplant recipients in the ICU.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.265-273
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• 2022

Lung transplantation is considered a viable treatment option for patients with end-stage lung disease. Recent decades have seen a gradual increase in the number of lung transplantation patients worldwide, and in South Korea, the case number has increased at least 3-fold during the last decade. Furthermore, the waiting list time is becoming longer, and more elderly patients (>65 years) are undergoing lung transplantation; that is, the patients placed on the waiting list are older and sicker than in the past. Hence, proper management during the pre-transplantation period, as well as careful selection of candidates, is a key factor for transplant success and patient survival. Although referring and transplant centers should address many issues, the main areas of focus should be the timing of referral, nutrition, pulmonary rehabilitation, critical care (including mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), psychological support, and the management of preexisting comorbid conditions (coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, gastroesophageal reflux disease, osteoporosis, malignancy, viral infections, and chronic infections). In this context, the present article reviews and summarizes the pre-transplantation management strategies for adult patients listed for lung transplantation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.4
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• pp.348-356
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• 2019

Background: Recently, the number of lung transplants in South Korea has increased. However, the long-term outcome data is limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate the long-term outcomes of adult lung transplantation recipients. Methods: Among the patients that underwent lung transplantation at a tertiary referral center in South Korea between 2008 and 2017, adults patient who underwent deceased-donor lung transplantation with available follow-up data were enrolled. Their medical records were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Through eligibility screening, we identified 60 adult patients that underwent lung (n=51) or heart-lung transplantation (n=9) during the observation period. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (46.7%, 28/60) was the most frequent cause of lung transplantation. For all the 60 patients, the median follow-up duration for post-transplantation was 2.6 years (range, 0.01-7.6). During the post-transplantation follow-up period, 19 patients (31.7%) died at a median duration of 194 days. The survival rates were 75.5%, 67.6%, and 61.8% at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years, respectively. Out of the 60 patients, 8 (13.3%) were diagnosed with chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), after a mean duration of $3.3{\pm}2.8years$ post-transplantation. The CLAD development rate was 0%, 17.7%, and 25.8% at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years, respectively. The most common newly developed post-transplantation comorbidity was the chronic kidney disease (CKD; 54.0%), followed by diabetes mellitus (25.9%). Conclusion: Among the adult lung transplantation recipients at a South Korea tertiary referral center, the long-term survival rates were favorable. The proportion of patients who developed CLAD was not substantial. CKD was the most common post-transplantation comorbidity.