Acute pandysautonomia--restitutio ad integrum by high prednisolone therapy.

Acute pandysautonomia is a rare disease defined as acute widespread and severe sympathetic and parasympathetic failure and sparing of somatic nerve fibers. The causes of this syndrome are often an autoimmune disease leading to autonomic ganglionopathy. The majority of cases have a poor prognosis with a chronic debilitating course.

Quality of life after lung transplantation: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The increase in life expectancy has raised the importance of quality of life after lung transplantation, although this issue has not yet been systematically investigated. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to provide an overview of quality of life in lung transplant patients.

Methods: Between April and July 2001, a set of 4 questionnaires were given to all adult, German-speaking lung transplant recipients (n = 108; response rate 87% [n = 94]): St.

Cystic fibrosis and lung transplantation--determination of the survival benefit.

Introduction: Cystic fibrosis is a well acknowledged indication for lung transplantation; however, the optimal timing for transplantation remains debatable. Liou et al. described a score for calculating 5-year probability of survival for patients with cystic fibrosis and concluded that only patients with a probability of survival < 30% gained a survival benefit from transplantation; those between 30% and 50% had equivocal survival effects from transplantation and those > 50% suffered negative effects.

Heterotopic tracheal transplantation with omentum wrapping in the abdominal position preserves functional and structural integrity of a human tracheal allograft.

Objectives: Transplantation of a human trachea has been reported only twice in the literature with limited documentation of the functional and structural properties of the allograft.

Patients And Methods: A 57-year-old patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with low segment tracheal stenosis was accepted for lung transplantation and 2-stage tracheal allotransplantation. Standard bilateral sequential lung transplantation was performed with the transfer of the donor trachea into the recipient's abdomen, which was wrapped in the greater omentum and sutured into the abdominal wall, similar to a stoma.

Treatment of severe acute lung allograft rejection with OKT3 and temporary extracorporeal membrane oxygenation bridging.

Objectives: The use of OKT3 for treatment of advanced high-grade acute rejection episodes eventually can result in cytokine release and consecutive pulmonary edema. Temporary extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) bridging can be used to overcome this crucial period before the beneficial effects of OKT3 can be observed.

Methods: We summarize our experience with three patients, who underwent lung transplantation and presented with severe acute rejection episodes.

Lobar transplantation, split lung transplantation and peripheral segmental resection--reliable procedures for downsizing donor lungs.

Objectives: The increasing scarcity of donor lungs, especially for small and pediatric recipients has stimulated the development of new operative techniques, which allow larger lungs to be downsized for use in smaller recipients. This approach has only recently gained widespread use-especially for highly urgent recipients-however, it is still not considered a standard procedure.

Methods: This report reviews the Vienna University experience with cadaveric split lung transplantation, lobar transplantation and by means of peripheral resection size reduced lung transplantation within the years 2001-2002.