Lung Transplantation

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Basics

• Summary
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• Treatments and Therapies

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

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For You

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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

Start Here

• Lung Transplant (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Lung Disease Treatments (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Images

• Heart-lung transplant - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Lung transplant - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• The SRTR/OPTN Annual Data Report (Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Lung Transplantation (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Analysis of the most influential factors affecting outcomes of lung transplant...
• Article: Immune Modulation and Efficacy of Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis in Lung Transplant...
• Article: The Path Forward: A Review on Enhanced Recovery After Cardiothoracic Transplantation.
• Lung Transplantation -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• How the Lungs Work (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (Health Resources and Services Administration)

Patient Handouts

• Lung transplant (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish