Lung transplantation can be indicated for many chronic lung diseases
Lung transplantation is a procedure for end-stage lung disease to replace a diseased organ with a healthier one from a deceased organ donor. It is an option used to improve the health and prolong survival of patients. Lung transplant can benefit patients with diseases such as cystic fibrosis, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), pulmonary arterial hypertension, autoimmune-related advanced lung disease, sarcoidosis, and silicosis. Patients must be referred by their local pulmonologist and their records reviewed. Once accepted for potential transplant, patients are extensively evaluated in a clinic visit. If they qualify, they are listed for transplant and seen in clinic every three months. Transplant surgery generally lasts 4 to 12 hours, followed by 8 to 24 hours of stabilization in an intensive care unit (ICU) in the hospital. Recovery will be in the Heart and Lung Transplant ICU (HTICU). When well enough, patients are discharged to local housing for several weeks for outpatient follow-up care.
There are approximately 65 active programs in the United States
This procedure may be used to treat or diagnose several different conditions. We have listed some of these conditions below for your convenience. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list and may vary depending on your specific diagnosis.
Research Could End Lung Shortages, Save Lives of Recipients
- Increasing the number of lungs available for transplant. Using a technique known as “ex vivo lung perfusion” (EVLP) combined with a promising drug would open the door for surgeons to assess and use lungs from donors who die outside the hospital. Most lungs from these donors go unused because surgeons cannot determine how much damage the lungs have suffered in the time since death. UVA’s research with EVLP could allow surgeons to rehabilitate injured donor lungs and dramatically reduce the large waiting list for lung transplants. “We envision UVA as eventually becoming a lung rehab center where donor lungs would arrive to undergo EVLP and, if they look great, they can be sent out to the appropriate hospital for transplant,” said Laubach, who is collaborating on the project with Kron, a UVA transplant surgeon
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