Donor Lung Preservation at 10°C: Clinical and Logistical Impact.

INTRODUCTION: Cold static donor lung preservation at 10°C appears to be a promising method to safely extend the cold ischemic time (CIT) and improve lung transplant (LTx) logistics. METHODS: LTx from November 2021 to February 2023 were included in this single institution, prospective, non-randomized study comparing prolonged preservation at 10°C versus standard preservation on ice. The inclusion criteria for 10°C preservation were suitable grafts for LTx without any donor retrieval concerns. PRIMARY ENDPOINT: primary graft dysfunction (PGD) grade-3 at 72-h. Secondary endpoints: clinical outcomes, cytokine profile and logistical impact. RESULTS: Thirty-three out of fifty-seven cases were preserved at 10°C. Donor and recipient characteristics were similar across the groups. Total preservation times (h:min) were longer (p<0.001) in the 10°C group [1st lung: median 12:09 (IQR 9:23-13:29); 2nd: 14:24 (12:00-16:20)] vs. standard group [1st lung: median 5:47 (IQR 5:18-6:40); 2nd: 7:15 (6:33-7:40)]. PGD grade-3 at 72-h was 9.4% in 10°C group vs. 12.5% in standard group (p=0.440). Length of mechanical ventilation (MV), ICU and hospital stays were similar in both groups. Thirty and ninety-day mortality rates were 0% in 10°C group (vs. 4.2% in standard group). IL-8 concentration was significantly higher 6-h post-LTx in the standard group (p=0.025) and IL-10 concentration was increased 72-h post-LTx in the 10°C group (p=0.045). CONCLUSIONS: Preservation at 10°C may represent a safe and feasible strategy to intentionally prolong the CIT. In our center, extending the CIT at 10°C may allow for semi-elective LTx and improve logistics with similar outcomes compared to the current standard preservation on ice.

Outcomes after lung transplantation from selected donors older than 70 years in a single centre: time to close the debate?

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of lung transplantations using grafts from donors aged over 70 years against those performed using younger donors. METHODS: This retrospective single-centre analysis includes lung transplants conducted at our institution from January 2014 to June 2022. Lung recipients were classified into 2 groups based on donor age (group A <70 years; group B ≥70 years). Variables regarding demographics, peri and postoperative outcomes and survival were included. The statistical analysis approach included univariable analysis, propensity score matching to address imbalances in donor variables (smoking status), recipient characteristics (sex, age, diagnosis and lung allocation score) and calendar period and survival analysis. RESULTS: A total of 353 lung transplants were performed in this period, 47 (13.3%) using grafts from donors aged over 70 years. Donors in group B were more frequently women (70.2% vs 51.6%, P = 0.017), with less smoking history (22% vs 43%, P = 0.002) and longer mechanical ventilation time (3 vs 2 days, P = 0.025). Recipients in group B had a higher lung allocation score (37.5 vs 35, P = 0.035). Postoperative variables were comparable between both groups, except for pulmonary function tests. Group B demonstrated lower forced expiratory volume 1 s levels (2070 vs 2580 ml, P = 0.001). The propensity score matching showed a lower chance of chronic lung allograft dysfunction by 12% for group B. One-, three- and five-year survival was equal between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The use of selected expanded-criteria donors aged over 70 years did not result in increased postoperative morbidity, early mortality or survival in this study.

Consensus on technical procedures for simulation-based training in thoracic surgery: an international needs assessment.

OBJECTIVES: To identify and prioritize technical procedures for simulation-based training to be integrated into the thoracic surgical curriculum. METHODS: A 3-round Delphi survey was conducted from February 2022 to June 2022 among 34 key opinion leaders in thoracic surgery from 14 countries worldwide. The 1st round was a brainstorming phase to identify technical procedures that a newly qualified thoracic surgeon should be able to perform. All the suggested procedures were categorized, qualitatively analysed and sent to the 2nd round. The second round investigated: the frequency of the identified procedure at each institution, the number of thoracic surgeons that should be able to perform these procedures, the degree of risk to the patient if the procedure is performed by a non-competent thoracic surgeon and the feasibility of simulation-based education. In the 3rd round, elimination and re-ranking of the procedures from the 2nd round were performed. RESULTS: Response rates in the 3 iterative rounds were 80% (28 out of 34), 89% (25 out of 28) and 100% (25 out of 25) in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd round, respectively. Seventeen technical procedures were included for simulation-based training in the final prioritized list. The top 5 procedures were Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) lobectomy, VATS segmentectomy, VATS mediastinal lymph node dissection, diagnostic flexible bronchoscopy and robotic-assisted thoracic surgery port placement, robotic-assisted thoracic surgery docking and undocking. CONCLUSIONS: The prioritized list of procedures represents a consensus of key thoracic surgeons worldwide. These procedures are suitable for simulation-based training and should be integrated in the thoracic surgical curriculum.

Surgical resection of Masaoka stage III thymic epithelial tumours with great vessels involvement: a retrospective multicentric analysis from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons thymic database.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyse the outcomes of an international cohort of patients affected by Masaoka stage III thymic epithelial tumours with vascular involvement and treated by surgery. METHODS: Study design was the observational multicentre retrospective cohort study. Data were extracted from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons thymic database; additional variables were collected. Inclusion criteria were as follows: stage III (Masaoka-Koga) thymic epithelial tumours; surgery with radical intention; clinical or pathological great vessels involvement; and radiologically suspected or diagnosed intraoperatively. Outcome items were analysed. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients submitted to surgery from 2001 to 2017 fulfilled inclusion criteria. Thymoma and thymic carcinoma patients did not differ for demographics and clinical characteristics. The majority of great vessel treated were superior vena cava or innominate veins (72.3%). Eleven patients (16.9%) had postoperative cardiopulmonary complications; vascular stenosis was observed in 3 patients (4.6%). The multivariable Cox analysis for disease-free survival showed an increased hazard of recurrence for thymic carcinoma (hazard ratio = 3.59; 95% confidence interval: 1.66-7.78, P = 0.001). The 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 0.86, 0.84, 0.81, and 0.53, respectively. There was no significant difference in overall survival according to resection status or between thymoma and thimic carcinoma. The univariable Cox regression model did not show an increased hazard of death for myasthenic patients considering all resection status and for patients who received neoadjuvant therapy. CONCLUSIONS: We observed that clinical outcomes of patients treated for stage III thymic epithelial tumours with vascular involvement are satisfactory suggesting to increase the confidence in dealing with these complex surgeries. Complete resection should be achieved, even though extensive vascular reconstructions are required.

The risk of bilobectomy compared with lobectomy: a retrospective analysis of a series of matched cases and controls.

OBJECTIVES: Bilobectomy is considered to be a risky procedure due to space mismatch between the pleural space and the remnant lung. The objective of this study was to evaluate if postoperative complications related or not to size mismatch are more frequent after bilobectomy compared with right lobectomy cases. METHODS: Retrospective case-control study on a series of matched non-small-cell lung cancer patients. Cases were patients who underwent right bilobectomy (upper and middle or lower and middle) and controls, patients who underwent right upper or lower lobectomy. Cases and controls were matched by propensity scoring according to site, age, ppoFEV1, type of postoperative management (intensive physiotherapy or not), cardiac comorbidity and pT status. We selected two primary outcomes for comparison: occurrence of any cardiorespiratory complication and occurrence of any complication related to space discrepancies. For the latter, all complicated case records were reviewed and two blinded observers agreed on the probability of each complication to be related to space discrepancies. Agreement was measured by the κ statistic. The overall odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each outcome were calculated on 2 × 2 tables for the whole population and for cases with upper or lower resections. RESULTS: The study included 689 patients: 572 right lobectomy (419 upper and 153 lower) and 117 bilobectomy cases (30 upper and middle and 87 lower and middle). The overall mortality rate of the series was 2.03% (14/689), and cardiorespiratory complications were recorded in 14.4% (99/689) and space-related complications in 19.59% (135/689) cases. Both observers agreed on space-related complications in 86% of the 135 cases (κ: 0.72). After matching, 234 cases entered the study (117 with right lobectomy, including 83 lower and 34 upper, and 117 with bilobectomy, including 87 lower and 30 upper). The prevalence of cardiorespiratory complications was higher after lower and middle lobectomy compared with lower lobectomy (P = 0.0002; OR: 7.96, 95% CI: 2.19-43.16). No differences were found in death rates or in space-related complications between groups of lobectomy and bilobectomy cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study failed to demonstrate a higher space-related complication rate in bilobectomy cases but cardiorespiratory complications were statistically higher after lower and middle lobectomy compared with lower lobectomy in matched cases.

The initial phase for validating the European algorithm for functional assessment prior to lung resection: quantifying compliance with the recommendations in actual clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the degree of compliance with the recommendations of the clinical practice guidelines published in 2009 by the ERS and the ESTS regarding the preoperative assessment of risk of lung resection in daily clinical practice at a tertiary hospital. METHOD: A prospective, observational study of real-time data collected from consecutive patients who had been referred for evaluation from September 2009 to December 2010. We recorded the presence or absence of the recommended studies included in the algorithm, their results and, when a test was missing, the reasons why it was not performed. Hospital mortality and cardio-respiratory morbidity rates are also presented. RESULTS: 173 patients were evaluated. In 171 cases, lung resection was performed, with a mortality of 1.2% and a cardio-respiratory morbidity of 11.7%. The failure rate of the first level of the algorithm was 4.6% and for the second level (VO(2max) test) it was 26%. The absence of exercise tests was mainly due to hospital structural problems and the patients' inability to perform it. Out of the patients who performed the exercise testing, 31 reached a VO(2max) of 20 ml/kg-min or more and underwent surgery without calculation of FEV(1)ppo and DCLOppo; 35 patients required the calculation to determine their operability and in 2 cases the intervention was not recommended due to functional inoperability of the patient. CONCLUSIONS: The validation process found lack of compliance with the proposed algorithm in 18.5% of the cases basically due to the absence of the exercise tests. The rate of adherence to the algorithm recommendations should be improved before performing any other validation studies.

Value of the average basal daily walked distance measured using a pedometer to predict maximum oxygen consumption per minute in patients undergoing lung resection.

OBJECTIVES: Maximum oxygen consumption per min (VO(2max)) is currently considered the most accurate test for the preoperative risk assessment in patients scheduled for pulmonary resection. Due to its high-technology requirements and cost, VO(2max) is performed less frequently than is desired. The objective of this investigation is to determine if the measurement of the basal daily ambulatory activity of the patients, with a pedometer, can be used to predict VO(2max) values. METHODS: This is a prospective study on 38 patients referred for scheduled lobectomy or pneumonectomy. Daily basal preoperative activity of the patients was measured 3 weeks before surgery by means of an OMROM HJ-72OIT-E2 pedometer. Before surgery, VO(2max) (dependent variable) was calculated using a Master Screen CPX module of Jaeger-Vyasis-Healthcare. The following independent variables were studied: age, sex, preoperative forced expiratory volume in 1s percentage (FEV1%) and carbon monoxide diffusing capacity percentage (DLCO%), mean number of steps per day (aerobic and non-aerobic), mean daily time of aerobic activity (in min) and mean daily walked distance (in km). Two linear regression models with bootstrap robust estimation of the standard error of the coefficients were adjusted and the estimated values of VO(2max) were kept as a new variable for comparison. To avoid collinearity problems, only one of the pedometer records entered the regression model. RESULTS: Data of the series (mean ± SD): age 62.8 ± 10.14 years; FEV1% 90.1 ± 21.8; DLCO% 82.8 ± 20.1. After collinearity analysis, mean daily walked distance was chosen as the most representative variable. In the first regression model, 'Distance' (p = 0.000) was highly correlated to the dependent variable (adjusted R²: 0.812). The second model improved the predictive value of the first one adding DLCO% to the model. In this model, DLCO% (p = 0.000) and 'Distance' (p = 0.002) were correlated to the dependent variable. The adjusted R² of the second lineal model was 0.935. CONCLUSION: These preliminary data show that a combination of the measured daily ambulatory activity using a pedometer, especially the mean daily walked distance in km, and the DLCO% of the patient could predict the VO(2max) value. Larger data series are needed for conclusive results.

Postoperative chest tube management: measuring air leak using an electronic device decreases variability in the clinical practice.

OBJECTIVES: Since there are no data in the literature regarding variability in the management of postoperative pleural drainages, we have designed a prospective randomized study aimed at measuring inter-observer variability in deciding when to withdraw chest tubes after lung resection and to evaluate if the use of an electronic device to measure postoperative air leak decreases clinical practice variations. METHODS: Sixty-one patients undergoing pulmonary resection were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: digital group (electronic measure of pleural air leak using Millicore AB DigiVent chest drainage system) or traditional group (standard water seal pleural chamber). Chest tube withdrawal criteria were established in advance. During morning rounds, two thoracic surgeons with comparable clinical experience and blinded to the decision of their counterpart, evaluated chest tube withdrawal criteria and noted whether the tube should be withdrawn or not. Inter-observer variability kappa index and global, positive, and negative agreement rates were calculated on 2 x 2 tables. Each observation episode was considered in the calculation. RESULTS: Fifty-four observations were recorded in the traditional group. Kappa coefficient was 0.37 (overall agreement rate: 0.58; positive agreement rate: 0.72; and negative agreement rate: 0.64). In the digital group, 67 observations were recorded. Kappa coefficient was 0.88 (overall agreement rate: 0.94; positive agreement rate 0.94; and negative agreement rate 0.94). CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated a high rate of disagreement related to the indication to remove chest tubes after lung resection and the improvement of the agreement rate with the use of an electronic device to measure postoperative air leak and pleural pressures.