Hyderabad: India’s first lung transplant (XVIVO Perfusion System) was performed on a middle-aged patient suffering from terminal interstitial lung disease who has been supplied with 10 liters of oxygen since August 2021.

The operation was performed on the morning of December 12th by Dr. Sandeep Attawar performed by the KIMS Hospitals and his team.

The idea behind “breathing the lungs” is to put the lungs through a device that cools the organ as it breathes and nourishes it with a substrate-enriched solution that contains antibiotics that remove small traces of infection. Airway cleaning by bronchoscopy can be performed on the device, as well as multiple tests performed simultaneously to further assess and improve the performance of the lung before it is cooled and then transplanted into the recipient.

Dr. Vijil Rahulan, the head of transplant pulmonology, explained the benefits of the XVIVO organ perfusion system. “The XVIVO Organ Conditioning System is the state-of-the-art system for improving organ function by infusing the organ with nutrients and antibiotics to reduce injury to the lungs from cold ischemic transport in an ice box. It is also used to condition the lungs with growth factors to improve lung function and reduce pulmonary edema. Overall, this translates into better long-term life for the transplanted lung, “he said.

Dr. Sandeep Attawar added, “This paradigm is the very latest in lung transplantation and part of the concept of organ regeneration. We at KIMS Hospitals are the first to take this unique approach in India and have achieved the best results with it. “Few select transplant institutions in the United States, Canada and Austria are using this approach to improve lung transplant outcomes.”