[AUTO-LUNG TRANSPLANTATION]

Abstract

To avoid a pneumonectomy procedure in patients with locally advanced lung cancer, extended resection including bronchovasculoplasty is an option to preserve the lung parenchyma. A triple-plasty operation involving the bronchus, pulmonary artery, and pulmonary vein is sometimes termed “auto-lung transplantation” and divided into two distinctive procedures. In one, “transposition” of the preserved lung is performed in an in vivo manner, while the other is a type of “bench surgery” performed in an ex vivo manner. To protect the lung graft from ischemic-reperfusion injury, the excised lung should be irrigated with lung preservation solution. Excision of the lung graft is easier with the bench surgery approach as compared with conventional surgery, and it was reported that there is no prolongation of operative time. This bench surgery method for lung cancer is a new, challenging surgical entity, and its utility is expected to be assessed in the near future.