The collaboration between the University Hospital of Siena and the University Hospital of Padua for lung transplantation continues. Thanks to the generosity of a donor’s family in Lombardy, two lung transplants were carried out, one in Padua and the other in Siena. The organ was sent to the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital thanks to the close collaboration between the two centers, which was consolidated on the occasion of the workshop recently organized at the Certosa di Pontignano.

The meeting allowed to deepen the clinical and assistance aspects of transplantation and donation, also activating a comparison between professionals both in the field of research and innovation. Padua is considered one of the best lung transplant centers in Italy, it was therefore important to discuss best practices that also include inter-company collaborations. The transplant, in recent weeks, has allowed a young patient suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis to dare a new life expectancy, followed for years regularly by the Respiratory Diseases Unit of Siena in synergy with the Pneumology of Livorno. This is the 198th lung transplant carried out at the Sienese center to date.

“The transplant patient responds well to treatment – explains the professor Luca Luzzi, director of the Aou Senese Lung Transplant Center – and is already in the thoracic surgery department, directed by Professor Piero Paladini. Thanks to the collaboration with our Paduan colleagues, we were able to carry out an evaluation of the donor’s choice and therefore arrive at the judgment of suitability. The sample was taken directly by colleagues from the lung transplant center in Padua, directed by Professor Federico Rea. Colleagues also took steps to speed up the organ in Siena. Collaboration and generosity that are truly fundamental to save our patient’s life “.

“Padua has a long tradition linked to lung transplants: in 2021 there were a total of 25 those carried out in our company, the first Italian center – declares the medical director of the University Hospital of Padua, the doctor Michele Tessarin -. Being able to collaborate once again with colleagues in Siena, where surgery is truly represented at the highest levels, can only strengthen a national network which, in the field of transplants, cancels distances and gives new life to many patients “.

The collaboration between the two centers will also be strengthened with agreements that will involve the lung transplant professionals of the two companies: pulmonologists, surgeons, resuscitators, etc. «Collaboration and sharing of experiences and expertise – concludes the Professor Elena Bargagli, responsible for the regional coordination of lung transplantation – it is essential for professionals and even more so for patients. By joining forces, it is possible to offer a better service, expanding the possibilities of care and the quality of assistance “.