The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued interventional procedure guidance recommending the use of Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) for preservation of lungs. The support of EVLP is given as standard arrangement, which is the most positive recommendation by NICE.
The NICE guidance are evidence-based recommendations that guide decisions in health, public health and social care in the UK and Wales. The interventional procedure program assesses the safety and efficacy of interventional procedures.
Today only one 1 in 5 donated lungs are used for transplant in the UK, the rest are considered unsuitable. The lack of deceased donor lungs leads to deterioration and death in up to 30% of patients that are waiting for a lung transplant. There are currently 257 patients waiting for a lung transplant in the UK and the average wait time is 18 months.
In the newly published NICE recommendation, EVLP is described as a technique that allows for longer and better preservation of lungs and may allow for marginal lungs or lungs that are working poorly to be assessed and used for transplant.
Hassiba Smail, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantation at Harefield Hospital, London, comments: “Our patients on the waiting list are desperate to get the chance to be called for a lung transplant, some of them unfortunately do not get the opportunity to receive this call at all. The perfect donor lungs are rare, the marginals one are the most common. For a surgeon to accept with confidence these marginal lungs and make the transplant a success remains a big challenge. EVLP has proved to be for the surgeons a tool helping us making this decision.”
Dag Andersson, CEO comments: “We are delighted that NICE has recognized the importance of EVLP to expand the donor pool in the UK, ultimately giving more patients the chance of a life-saving transplant. Our commercial organization is now in position to continue the establishment of our EVLP technology in the UK lung transplant centers”.