the recipient team is told the expected flush time and the recipient is called to the operating room, taking into consideration flush time plus 1 hour for the retrieval team to leave the donor hospital and the length of time required for travel to the recipient hospital. We generally call the recipient to the operating room 2 hours before the expected arrival of the organs, so there is enough time for anesthesia, opening of the chest, and pulmonary dissection. The retrieval technique includes administration of 500 µg of PGE1 into the main pulmonary artery, before aortic cross-clamping and lung perfusion with 4 L of 4°C Perfadex (Vitrolife, Gothenburg, Sweden) supplemented with PGE1 (500 µg divided into the bags with Perfadex) through a cannula inserted into the main pulmonary artery. The lungs are recruited before flushing, to assure that there is no atelectasis, using a sustained pressure no higher than 30 cm H2O. In this way, flush distribution is more homogeneous. During the flush one must observe the position of the tip of the cannula so that the flush is distributed equally to both lungs. For transport to the recipient hospital, lungs are kept inflated at mid-expiration with 50% oxygen in 2 L of cold Perfadex. Hyperinflation increases vascular permeability. When the recipient is in the operating room, a peripheral venous line and a radial artery line are inserted while the patient is awake. Five-lead ECG and pulse oximeter are also required. At Toronto General Hospital (TGH), epidural catheter is not placed routinely. Anesthesia is induced and the recipient is intubated. In patients with septic pulmonary diseases such as cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis, we first use a single lumen tube and bronchoscopy is performed for airway toilette and bronchial washing for microbiological cultures. A left-sided double lumen tube is then inserted to allow one-lung ventilation. For induction, propofol, penthotal, midazolam, and ketamine have been used at TGH in combination with narcotic analgesics such as fentanyl (10–15 µg/kg) or sufentanyl. Pancuronium is the most frequently used relaxant. Nitrous oxide is never used because it increases pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and expands intravascular gas emboli, which may be entrapped in the graft. Isoflurane or sevoflurane are used initially for maintenance of anesthesia, but the patient may not tolerate well once he or she becomes hemodynamically unstable due to mediastinal manipulation or vasodilatory hypotension. Propofol infusion at a rate of 50 µg/kg/min ensures amnesia. Supplemental doses of fentanyl are administered every 2 to 3 hours (5 µg/kg) (4). After the anesthesia is induced, a Swan-Ganz catheter is inserted through the right jugular vein and a central venous catheter is inserted into the jugular or subclavian vein. A nasopharyngeal temperature probe and Foley catheter are also inserted. A warming blanket is used to cover the upper thorax and the legs (4). Transesophageal echocardiogram is used to monitor the right ventricular function and biventricular filling. It may also be used to evaluate the venous pulmonary blood flow at the end of the transplant procedure (4). In severe pulmonary hypertension, one-lung ventilation is not attempted. Increased expiratory time is necessary in patients with severe obstructive airway disease to avoid gas trapping and auto-PEEP (4). Permissive hypercarbia is usually required, and pH is a better determinant of the inability to ventilate than is PaCO2 (4). In the following sections we present the technique for bilateral lung transplantation, step by step