Author Spotlight: Assessment of Cardiac Output Calculation by Thermodilution in Pigs for Effective Perfusion Flow During EVLP

This study was carried out to ensure whether the calculation of cardiac output by the thermal lesion method in pigs allow us to obtain equal values to those obtained by the other techniques to establish the adequate perfusion flow during ex vivo lung perfusion or EVLP in experimental animal models. One of the challenges is the development of new and low cost solutions and technologies for performing EVLP, which would allow the recovery of lungs that under normal circumstances could be discarded for a lung transplant, as well as allowing prolonged lung preservation. Evaluation of the structural and molecular changes that are present in lung tissue after prolonged preservation to EVLP with different perfusion flow.

Among the new scientific questions that our results have opened is to evaluate what lung, structural, physiological, and molecular changes can occur after EVLP using cardiac output perfusion flow obtained by thermal elution, adjusted by body surface area weight, and fixed metal. In future studies, our laboratory will focus on evaluating how different perfusion flows affect the pulmonary endothelium during EVLP, with the goal for increasing the lung recovery and improving preservation for transplant.