innovative surgery to facilitat early lung re-transplantation after pulmonary infarction

Hemorrhagic pulmonary infarction secondary to venous thrombosis is a rare but life-threatening complication after lung transplantation. We describe the case of a 61-year-old man with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who underwent single left lung transplantation. The early postoperative period was marked by pulmonary venous graft infarction, complicated by massive hemoptysis originating from the transplanted lung and hemorrhagic shock. To control the hemorrhage, urgent allograft pneumonectomy was required. However, to facilitate early re-transplantation, the vascular and bronchial stumps of the graft were preserved. A new pulmonary transplant was successfully performed six days later with no further complications.