What Is a Lung Transplant?

A lung transplant is surgery to remove a person's diseased lung and replace it with a healthy lung from a deceased donor.

Lung transplants are done on 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.

Overview

Lung transplants aren't very common due to the small number of donor organs available. Slightly more than 1,400 lung transplants were done in 2007. More donor lungs would mean a larger number of suitable lungs available for transplant.

Lung transplants most often are done in people aged 18 to 65. Sometimes this surgery is done in children and older adults. This article focuses on lung transplants in adults.

Each patient must go through a careful screening process to make sure he or she is a good candidate for a lung transplant. Donor lungs also are carefully screened to make sure they're healthy enough to be used in a transplant.

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) manages the nationwide organ-sharing process. OPTN also maintains the waiting lists for all organ donations.

The number of people on the lung transplant waiting list constantly changes. About half of the people on the list receive a lung in any given year.

Some people get one lung during a transplant. This is called a single-lung transplant. Other people get two lungs. This is called a double-lung transplant.

Some people who have severe heart disease and lung disease get a heart and lung(s). This is called a heart-lung transplant.

A rare kind of lung transplant is a living donor lobar lung transplant. In this operation, a healthy adult donates a segment, or lobe, of one lung to another person. This type of transplant usually is done in children.

Outlook

Lung transplants are a "last resort" treatment for people who have severe disease and no other medical options.

A lung transplant can improve a person's quality of life. For people who have certain lung problems, a transplant also may help them live longer than they would without the surgery.

Lung transplants have serious risks. Your body may reject the new lung, or you may develop infections. The short- and long-term complications of a lung transplant can be life threatening.

November 2008