Condition of the problem of organ transplantation in the USSR in 1970–1971 and ways to solve it (Yu.M. Lopukhin, A.G. Lapchinsky, V.P. Demikhov)

Abstract

Aim. The article examines and analyzes the state of the problem of organ transplantation in the USSR in the early 1970s and ways to solve it with the participation of three prominent transplantologists of the Soviet Union – Yu.M. Lopukhin, A.G. Lapchinsky and V.P. Demikhov, as well as some world achievements in this field.Material and methods. Available printed works on the history of Russian and world transplantology in the 1970s, the analysis of which was carried out by historical-genetic and comparative-analytical methods.Results. Developed by Yu.M. Lopukhin together with leading surgeons and immunologists of the country the Program of scientific research on the problem of transplantation of organs and tissues included three main areas: clinical problems of transplantation of organs and body parts (limbs), including ensuring the viability of organs and tissues outside the body, the ways to overcome biological incompatibility, and also the moral and ethical issues of transplantation, and donation issues. It is shown that the methods of overcoming biological incompatibility in organ and tissue allotransplantations, which had been used for many years by A.G. Lapchinsky and V.P. Demikhov (exchange transfusion of blood between organisms of different species, cross circulation between individuals of the same species), no longer corresponded to the state of medical science, which was represented by Yu.M. Lopukhin. However, scientists who had world-class priorities for the duration of survival of experimental animals with a transplanted limb (A.G. Lapchinsky) and an additional heart and lung transplanted into the chest (V.P. Demikhov) could help in the implementation of some provisions of the Lopukhin’s Program. The preservation of organs and tissues before transplantation in a state of suspended animation was studied by A.G. Lapchinsky, and V.P. Demikhov worked at developing the methods for the extracorporeal connection of organs to the body of an intermediate host and using portable artificial hearts to maintain the vital activity of a cadaveric heart before transplantation.Conclusions. Pioneers of experimental transplantology in the USSR A.G. Lapchinsky and V.P. Demikhov, who began their research in the 1940s, still could have solved many issues of transplanting organs and body parts by the 1970s. But in presented in 1971 Program on the problem of organ and tissue transplantation, prepared under the guidance of Yu.M. Lopukhin, the emphasis was placed on immunological studies, while experimental surgeons played a minor role in it.