Cardiac hammock technique to improve exposure of a difficult left hilum during lung transplantation

Exposure of the left pulmonary hilum during lung transplantation (LT) may be challenging. A decade ago, our group published a description of our technique for heart mobilization to provide exposure of the difficult left hilum.1 In most cases, the enhanced visualization allowed us to avoid use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), which is associated with higher incidence of primary graft dysfunction, increased blood product utilization, and extended operative time. When either CBP or central extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was needed, such as in cases of pulmonary hypertension, the duration of CPB time could be decreased by utilizing this method.