Two-stage bilateral lung reimplantation in the dog.

A study of two-stage pulmonary autotransplantation was performed on 29 dogs; 12 dogs died after the first stage, which was always a right lung reimplantation, and 17 dogs underwent the second stage after varying intervals of time. In the group of six dogs operated upon with very short intervals between stages (2 to 8 days) there were no survivors. There were seven long-term survivors in the subgroup with an interval longer than 4 weeks, and they constitute the largest published series obtained with this particular procedure. The interval between operative stages was the only significant controlled variable, as only minor technical or operative differences were allowed to occur. Ischemia times of the lungs were usually quite short. The surviving animals were utilized for studies of the regeneration of the afferent pulmonary nerves (Hering-Breure reflex and effects of capsaicin) as permitted by a long follow-up period of up to 3 years.