February 2025

PULMONARY

EXPANDING THE LUNG TRANSPLANT DONOR POOL BY PUTTING 'LUNGS IN THE FRIDGE’

Featuring: Ankit Bharat, MD, MBBS
To expand the donor pool for lung transplant recipients and give surgeons more time to remove diseased lungs during transplantation, organ procurement specialists with Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute are now routinely repairing damaged donor lungs using “lungs-in-a-box” technology and storing them for transplantation by putting “lungs in a fridge.” These innovative approaches are yielding dramatic benefits for patients and staff alike. In 2024, the institute’s lung transplant program performed 148 lung transplants, the most in a single year since their start 10 years ago. Fueled by innovative technology like “lungs in a fridge” and “lungs in a box,” the institute became the highest volume lung transplant center in the U.S. this year and achieved the shortest wait time for a lung transplant, with a median wait time of four days.
Ankit Bharat, MD, MBBS, ​chief of Thoracic Surgery, Harold L. and Margaret N. Method Professor of Surgery, director of the Canning Thoracic Institute​

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