[Current status of lung transplantation in China: problems and perspectives]

Despite rapid progress, clinical lung transplantation in China still lags far behind. A great challenge remains in donor lung utilization and perioperative medicine. It's really abnormal that we are so backward in lung transplantation when we have come up with the advanced world levels in thoracic surgery, pulmonology and critical care medicine. Our shortcomings were analyzed by comparing lung transplantation in China and in the advanced countries. The first problem is multidisciplinary teamwork. In the United States, a lung transplant team includes physician specialized in lung transplantation, thoracic surgeons, nurses, respiratory therapists and other specialists possibly needed. In contrast, our lung transplant teams are derived from thoracic surgery teams. Other specialists are invited for consultation just when thoracic surgeons are unable to deal with the tough issues in perioperative medicine. The low utilization and quality of donor lung also result from poor teamwork. The second problem is that we failed to integrate such advances as extra corporeal lung support and ex vivo lung perfusion into our lung transplant programs. In conclusion, the development of lung transplantation in China is dependent upon an initiative, multidisciplinary team approach.