Equivalence of flow velocities through bilateral pulmonary vein anastomoses in bilateral living-donor lobar lung transplantation

Background: Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) during lung transplantation is useful for monitoring cardiac condition and pulmonary vascular anastomoses to detect vascular complications, but the parameters for evaluation by TEE during lung transplantation have not been established. Methods: We performed intraoperative TEE on 17 patients during living-donor lobar lung transplantation (LDLLT) and investigated the usefulness of measurement of peak flow velocities through bilateral pulmonary vein (PV) anastomoses and evaluation of the equivalence. Results: The peak flow velocities through bilateral PV anastomoses were almost equivalent in 14 patients without complications and were not equivalent in 3 patients with complications such as vascular stenosis and peripheral atelectasis. Conclusions: The flow velocities through the bilateral PV anastomoses are shown to be nearly equivalent during bilateral LDLLT, and the equivalence may be one factor for predicting the success of LDLLT.