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Lung transplantation (LTx) is an established therapeutic option for end-stage pulmonary disease. However, it remains restricted by donor lung scarcity. Donor's lungs are rejected frequently due to severe lung damage caused by aspiration or neurogenic pulmonary oedema that can all lead to acute lung injury (ALI), and more severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Lung transplant patients face poor survival rates in comparison with other solid organ transplantations. This is primarily due to a high incidence of postoperative complications, such as primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), especially bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). The aim of this thesis was to expand the availability of a donor's lungs for transplantation. We sought to increase the chances of a lifesaving opportunity for recipients who may otherwise have remained on the transplant waiting list for years. We did this preclinically by utilising a variety of techniques to regain lung function in discarded lungs, thus increasing the donor pool. We investigated the role of cytokine adsorption during ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), and extracorporeal haemofiltration post-transplant as a means of treating and restoring the ARDS-damaged lungs and reducing the incidence of PGD post-transplantation. The lungs were evaluated regarding the development of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) in which cytokines seem to be an essential target given the outcome of significantly less PGD in the group receiving cytokine adsorption. We suggest this treatment method will increase the availability of the donor's lungs and increase the tolerability of the donor's lungs in the recipient. The results of this study formed the basis for our idea to investigate the effect of mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy to restore gastric content aspirations damaged lungs and reduce the incidence of PGD at 72 hours’ post-transplantation. Furthermore, we explored pulmonary function, surv

OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to validate the Swedish Cardiac Surgery Registry by reviewing the reported cardiac operations to assess the completeness and quality of the registered data and the EuroSCORE II variables. METHODS: A total of 5837 cardiac operations were reported to the Swedish Cardiac Surgery Registry in Sweden during 2015. A randomly selected sample of 753 patient records (13%) was scrutinized by 3 surgeons at all 8 units in Sweden performing open cardiac surgery in adults. RESULTS: Coverage was excellent with 99% [95% confidence interval (CI) 98-99%] of the performed procedures found in the registry. Reported waiting times for surgery were correct in 78% (95% CI 76-79%) of the cases. The main procedural code was correctly reported in 96% (95% CI 95-97%) of the cases. The correlation between reported and monitored logistic EuroSCORE II had a coefficient of 0.79 (95% CI 0.76-0.82), and the median difference in EuroSCORE II was 0% (interquartile range -0.4% to 0.4%). The majority of EuroSCORE II variables had good agreement and coherence; however, New York Heart Association functional class, preoperative renal dysfunction, left ventricular ejection fraction, Canadian Cardiovascular Society Class IV angina and poor mobility were less robust Postoperative complications were rare and in general had a high degree of completeness and agreement. CONCLUSIONS: The reliability of the variables in the national Swedish Cardiac Surgery Registry was excellent. Thus, the registry is a valuable source of data for quality studies and research. Some EuroSCORE II variables require improved and stricter definitions to obtain uniform reporting and high validity.