What is a Lung Transplant?
A lung transplant is a surgical procedure performed to remove one or both diseased lungs from a patient and replace it with a healthy one from another person. The majority of lungs that are transplanted come from deceased organ donors. This type of transplant is called a cadaveric transplant.
Healthy, non-smoking adults who make a good match may be able to donate a part (a lobe) of one of their lungs. This type of transplant is called a living transplant. Individuals who donate a part of a lung can live healthy lives with the remaining lung tissue.
Various types of lung transplant procedures include single lung (transplantation of one lung); double lung, bilateral sequential, or bilateral single (transplantation of two lungs); and heart-lung transplants (transplantation of both lungs and the heart taken from a single donor). The type of procedure performed depends on the condition of the recipient.
Why is a lung transplant recommended?
Lung transplantation is a treatment option for children and young adults with severe cystic fibrosis (CF), with end-stage lung disease, and other chronic lung diseases. CF is the most common underlying disease that may require a lung transplant among children, adolescents, and young adults.
Some of the other diseases that may require a lung transplant among this population include the following:
- bronchopulmonary dysplasia or chronic lung disease, CLD (this is a general term for long-term respiratory problems in premature babies resulting from lung injury to babies who must use a mechanical ventilator and oxygen for breathing)
- pulmonary hypertension (increased pressure in the arteries of the lungs)
- heart disease or heart defects affecting the lungs (may require a heart-lung transplant) pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the lung)
- Lung transplants can now be performed in all ages - from newborn to adult. Your physician will discuss the lung transplant selection criteria with you.
What is involved in lung transplant surgery?
Once an organ becomes available to a patient, he or she will be immediately called to the hospital. This call can occur at any time, so one should always be prepared to go to the hospital if needed.
Once at the hospital, the patient will have some more final blood work and tests to confirm the match of the organ.
The patient will then go to the operating room. The transplant surgery may require from six to twelve hours, but can vary greatly depending on the type of surgery and on each individual case.
Single lung transplantation is performed with the patient under general anesthesia. It is not always necessary to have cardiopulmonary bypass (re-routing of the blood through a heart-lung bypass machine) with a single lung transplant.
However, if two separate lungs are transplanted, cardiopulmonary bypass is often necessary. Heart-lung transplants always require the use of cardiopulmonary bypass.