Study: Coronary Bypass Can Be Combined With Lung Transplant

Additionally, they report the heart surgery can be performed while the patient was being prepared to receive the donor organ, and thus does not add additional time to the transplant procedure itself.

The researchers emphasize that this strategy is can only be used for lung transplant patients who have coronary artery disease amenable to a revascularization procedure, and whose hearts pump at least at 50 percent of capacity.

"Typically, these patients have been turned down at most centers from having a lung transplant because of their coronary artery disease," said Dr. Vijay Patel. "Patient selection is critical; if the only medical reasons for a patient not to receive a lung transplant is the heart disease, they could be candidates for the combined procedure."

Patel prepared the results of the Duke study for presentation at the 98th annual international conference of the American Thoracic Society.

The researchers found that of the first 350 lung transplants performed at Duke, 18 patients had severe coronary artery disease. Twelve received bypass surgery and six an angioplasty procedure prior to transplant. The survival rate for these patients was 88 percent, compared to an 81 percent survival for all other transplant patients, the researchers reported.

"This approach appears to be safe and effective for a group of patients who otherwise would not receive a transplant," Patel said. "We have shown that we can improve the quality of life of these patients without increasing the amount of time the patient is on the table. Also, their length of stay in the hospital was similar to those transplant patients who didn't get the revascularization."