One-year experience with ex vivo lung perfusion: Preliminary results from a single center.

Objective: To enlarge the donor pool for lung transplantation, an increasing number of extended criteria donor lungs are used. However, in more than 50% of multi-organ donors the lungs are not used. Ex vivo lung perfusion offers a unique possibility to evaluate and eventually recondition the injured donor lungs.

Valve configuration determines long-term results after repair of the bicuspid aortic valve.

Background: Reconstruction of the regurgitant bicuspid aortic valve has been performed for >10 years, but there is limited information on long-term results. We analyzed our results to determine the predictors of suboptimal outcome.

Methods And Results: Between November 1995 and December 2008, 316 patients (age, 49±14 years; male, 268) underwent reconstruction of a regurgitant bicuspid aortic valve.