In a new cross-border collaboration between Denmark and Sweden, Rigshospitalet will now be responsible for cleaning and improving donor lungs from Southern Sweden, which is expected to increase the number of lungs available for transplantation throughout Scandinavia. This initiative utilizes the advanced technology Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP), which Rigshospitalet has successfully used for over a decade. EVLP technology involves keeping the lungs alive outside the body by supplying them with oxygen and nutrients through a specially designed machine. This allows doctors to assess and repair the lungs so they can be suitable for transplantation, even if they may not have been initially. Hasse Møller-Sørensen, who is the chief physician at Rigshospitalet’s Department of Anesthesia, Surgery, and Intensive Care in the Heart Centre, and who is responsible for the EVLP program, explains that the technique has increased the number of donor lungs by 25 percent. “Previously, some of the lungs we can now use would have been discarded. EVLP allows us to utilize more lungs for donation,” he says.
Starting this year, some of the donor lungs coming from Southern Sweden will be sent to Rigshospitalet for optimization. After treatment, the Danish and Swedish teams will jointly assess whether the lungs are suitable for transplantation, after which they will be sent back to Skåne University Hospital in Sweden. Michael Perch, chief physician in the Department of Cardiology and leader of the Danish lung transplant program, emphasizes the importance of collaboration: “By expanding the EVLP method, we can increase the number of donor lungs available in Sweden and thus throughout Scandinavia.” The project, running from 2024 to the end of 2026, has a budget of around 20 million Danish kroner, of which approximately 12 million is funded by the EU.
Furthermore, the collaboration also includes research on optimizing donor lungs and the transplantation process, which may lead to further improvements and innovations in the field.