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Hybrid lung transplant (simultaneous transplant from brain-dead and living donor) conducted at Okayama University Hospital.
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Lung Transplant Team, including Professor OTO (second from left), at the post-surgery press conference (April 4)
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World’s first hybrid lung transplant: Simultaneous lung transplants from both brain-dead and living donors

On 4 April 2015, the simultaneous transplant of the left lung from a brain-dead donor and right lung (inferior lobe) from a living donor to a patient suffering from idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis was successfully undertaken at Okayama University Hospital. This was the first so-called hybrid transplant in the world with a simultaneous transplant from a brain-dead and a living donor.

The operation was conducted by a team led by the Lung Transplant Chief Takahiro Oto of the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Hospital. During the operation, which took about ten hours, a lung provided by a brain-dead donor and part of a lung provided by a living donor were transplanted.

At the post-surgery press conference, Professor Oto said, “it was a great achievement to save a life using a fully functioning lung from a living donor, in addition to the usage of a lung from a brain-dead donor. It is extremely significant that we were able to transplant a lung that was not considered usable for medical reasons. I would like to reduce, even if it is only a small amount, the number of lungs that go unused.”