Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013 - (Page 11)
PIONEERING
A LIFESAVING
TECHNIQUE
Over the years, Bartley Griffith,
MD—Thomas E. and Alice Marie
Hales Distinguished Professor
of Surgery at the University of
Maryland School of Medicine
and director of heart and lung
transplantation at UMMC—was
awarded several National Institutes of Health grants to develop
artificial lung devices, including
a portable ECMO machine that
enables patients awaiting transplantation to walk around. Dr.
Griffith and team were the first in
the United States to enroll a patient in a clinical trial using a new
ex vivo lung perfusion technique,
which reinvigorated donor lungs
that previously would have been
deemed unusable for transplant.
The technique could increase the
number of donor lungs available
for the more than 1,600 patients
awaiting transplants nationwide.
The surgical team decided to try a different
method to connect Davenport to the ECMO machine.
Traditionally, cannulas—tubes inserted into the body
to deliver or remove fluid—are connected through
the legs, which means the patient has to lie in bed.
“We wanted to try a unique connection method that
would permit Brittany to get up and walk,” says
Bartley Griffith, MD, professor of surgery and director of heart and lung transplantation. Through small
incisions in the chest and neck they connected cannulas to the heart’s right atrium and pulmonary artery.
This change in technique allowed Davenport, who
had been sedated since her ordeal began, to finally
regain consciousness.
Above: The University of Maryland Cardiac Surgery Intensive
Care Unit never gave up on patient Brittany Davenport,
who spent almost a year getting healthy enough for a lung
transplant. Top: Davenport, at home with daughter Breh.
Discover more about lungs in our health library! Go to uchs.org/mhm.
uchs.org | Spring 2013
11
http://www.uchs.org/mhm
http://www.uchs.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013
Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013
Contents
A Healthy Start
Like This? Try That!
The Breath of Life
At a Glance
Physician Update
News and Events
Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013
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