by Matt Batcheldor
Only 20% of donor lungs are in sufficient condition for transplantation, which means that many people die every day while waiting on the transplant list. Discovering new ways to increase the supply of donor lungs is an urgent problem and is desperately needed to save lives of patients with chronic lung disease.
A Vanderbilt team has discovered that donor lungs rejected for transplant can be repaired using cross-circulation with a xenogeneic (swine) host. Read more from the VUMC Reporter.