Pig lung transplant survival model.

Although lung transplant is a life-saving therapy for some patients, primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity soon after a transplant. Ischemia reperfusion injury is known to be one of the most critical factors in PGD development. PGD is by definition an acute lung injury syndrome that occurs during the first 3 d following lung transplantation. To successfully translate laboratory discoveries to clinical practice, a reliable and practical large animal model is critical. This protocol describes a surgical technique for swine lung transplantation and postoperative management for a further 3 d post transplant. The protocol includes the background and rationale, required supplies, and a detailed description of the donor operation, transplant surgery, postoperative care, and sacrifice surgery. A pig lung transplant model is reliably produced in which the recipients survive for 3 d post transplant. This 3-d survival model can be used by lung transplant researchers to assess the development of PGD and to test therapeutic strategies targeting PGD. In total, the protocol requires 5 h for the surgeries, plus ~2 h in total for the postoperative care.