On July 17th, Okayama University Hospital successfully completed the world’s second hybrid transplant, which is a simultaneous transplant from brain-dead and living donors. Okayama University Hospital was the first in the world to succeed using this method in April 2015. This time, a male patient suffering from idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis received a right lung from a brain-dead donor and left lung (inferior lobe) from a living donor.

The operation was conducted by a team led by Dr. Takahiro Oto of the Okayama University Hospital Organ Transplant Center. During the operation, which took about nine hours, a lung provided by a brain-dead donor and part of a lung provided by a living donor (patient’s son) were transplanted. The male patient was diagnosed with idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis in 2012 and was registered on an organ transplant waiting list at another medical institution in 2015, but changed his registration to the Okayama University Hospital waiting list in order to eventually receive the hybrid transplant.

Professor Oto stated, “This is the second successful hybrid transplant conducted. My hope is that this method will reduce the number of patients who pass away while waiting for a transplant and more patients will have the opportunity to receive a transplant.”

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