Background: This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of partial liquid ventilation (PLV) on acute allograft dysfunction after lung transplantation.
Methods: The canine left lung allotransplantation model was used, with the graft preserved in 4 degrees C low-potassium dextran glucose solution for 18 hours. The control group (n = 6) had conventional mechanical ventilation, and the PLV group (n = 6) had perfluorooctylbromide instilled into the airway 30 minutes after reperfusion. For 360 minutes, allograft function and hemodynamics were evaluated. After the evaluation, myeloperoxidase activity of the graft tissue was assayed.
Results: All dogs survived for 360 minutes. In the PLV group, PaO2, shunt fraction, and alveolar to arterial gradient for O2 were significantly better than those in the control group after 120, 180, and 120 minutes, respectively (p < 0.05). After 240 minutes, peak airway pressure became significantly lower than that in the control group (p < 0.05). The PaO2 at 360 minutes was 102 +/- 55 mm Hg in the control group and 420 +/- 78 mm Hg in the PLV group (p < 0.0001), and the peak airway pressure was 21.4 +/- 4.1 mm Hg in the control group and 14.7 +/- 5.0 mm Hg in the PLV group (p < 0.05). Myeloperoxidase activity in the PLV group was lower than that in the control group.
Conclusions: The study shows that PLV alleviated acute allograft dysfunction after lung transplantation.