As part to the ‘Da Vita a qualità di Vita’ project an Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) machine has been donated to the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology and Heart-Lung Transplantation at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, thanks to the fundamental contribution of Fondazione Terzo Pilastro in collaboration with LIFC Lazio comitato Officium.
By accomplishing the ‘Da vita a qualità della Vita’ project the Officium association, which for years has supported research to improve treatments for patients with cystic fibrosis, has set a target of increasing the chance of transplantation for patients on the waiting list for lung transplantation. The technique of reconditioning lungs which do not meet the standard transplant criteria was invented in the 1970s and consists in treating the organs for approximately four hours to restore the circulation and ventilation of the ex vivo lungs making them eligible for transplant.