Lung transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh

Lung transplantation appears to be a therapeutic alternative for selected patients with end-stage pulmonary vascular and/or parenchymal disease. The greatest impediment to transplantation remains the availability of donor organs. This has become more significant as additional transplant centers become operational. The primary cause of death has been infection, and this most frequently occurs in the early post-transplant period. Significant progress has been made in curbing the morbidity and mortality from bacterial pneumonia and CMV infection, and this is the primary reason for improved survival rates. If the recipient survives the initial hospital stay, the likelihood of survival at 5 years is approximately 80%. The primary long-term complication is obliterative bronchiolitis which is poorly understood and difficult to treat. Nevertheless, the improvement in survival provides impetus to refine and improve the procedure so that survival can reach that attained by recipients of other major organ allografts.