A lung transplant is an operation to remove and replace a diseased lung with a healthy human lung from a donor. A donor is usually a person who has died, but in some cases a living donor may be used.
Why a lung transplant is needed
Lung transplants are normally offered to people in the last stages of lung disease due to conditions such as:
Other less common conditions include:
- pulmonary vascular lung disease (disease of the blood vessels in the lungs)
- congenital lung disease (lung disease present from birth)
- inoperable cardiac-related lung disease (also known as Eisenmenger’s syndrome)
If one or both of your lungs can no longer work efficiently and you are severely breathless when doing little or no exercise, with a reduced quality of life, you may need a lung transplant.
How common are lung transplants?
Around 150 lung transplants are carried out in the UK each year, mainly on people in the final stages of lung disease caused by conditions such as cystic fibrosis and emphysema.
Very few children and teenagers have lung transplants, mainly because treatment for cystic fibrosis has improved over the years and lung transplants are not needed as often.
Around 70% of transplants are bilateral, which means both lungs are replaced. All patients with infection in their lungs, for example from cystic fibrosis, will need to have a bilateral lung transplant.
Most other transplants are single transplants. There are also around 10 heart and lung transplants each year.
Outlook
A lung transplant is a challenging operation and, as with all surgery, there is a risk of complications. However, most transplant patients go on to lead full and normal lives. Failure of the new organ occurs in approximately one in five cases.
Continue to next section: How to prepare for a lung transplant