Lung Transplant Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Lung Transplant, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery, organ donation.

Lung transplantation: opportunities for research and clinical advancement.

Wilkes DS, Egan TM, Reynolds HY

Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

Lung transplantation is the only definitive therapy for many forms of end-stage lung diseases. However, the success of lung transplantation is limited by many factors: (1) Too few lungs available for transplantation due to limited donors or injury to the donor lung; (2) current methods of preservation of excised lungs do not allow extended periods of time between procurement and implantation; (3) acute graft failure is more common with lungs than other solid organs, thus contributing to poorer short-term survival after lung transplant compared with that for recipients of other organs; (4) lung transplant recipients are particularly vulnerable to pulmonary infections; and (5) chronic allograft dysfunction, manifest by bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, is frequent and limits long-term survival. Scientific advances may provide significant improvements in the outcome of lung transplantation. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute convened a working group of investigators on June 14-15, 2004, in Bethesda, Maryland, to identify opportunities for scientific advancement in lung transplantation, including basic and clinical research. This workshop provides a framework to identify critical issues related to clinical lung transplantation, and to delineate important areas for productive scientific investigation.

Published 11 October 2005 in Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 172(8): 944-55.
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