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Summary
A lung transplant removes a person's diseased lung and replaces it with a healthy one. The healthy lung comes from a donor who has died. Some people get one lung during a transplant. Other people get two.
Lung transplants are used for people who are likely to die from lung disease within 1 to 2 years. Their conditions are so severe that other treatments, such as medicines or breathing devices, no longer work. Lung transplants most often are used to treat people who have severe
- COPD
- Cystic fibrosis
- Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
- Pulmonary hypertension
Complications of lung transplantation include rejection of the transplanted lung and infection.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- Lung Transplant (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
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Lung Transplant
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Also in Spanish
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Preventing Rejection (United Network for Organ Sharing)
Living With
- Diet and Exercise (United Network for Organ Sharing)
Images
- Heart-lung transplant - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Lung transplant - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Statistics and Research
- The SRTR/OPTN Annual Data Report (Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients)
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Lung Transplantation
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Reference Desk
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How the Lungs Work
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Find an Expert
Patient Handouts
- Lung transplant (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish