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SURVIVAL WITH LUNG TRANSPLANTATION IS IMPROVING.

Lung transplantation remains an experimental and high- risk procedure, but data from 69 transplants performed between 1988 and 1991 at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis suggests that it may soon become accepted therapy for patients with severe lung disease. The 69 procedures were performed in 66 patients who had lung disease that seriously compromised their functional status and was unresponsive to medical therapy. The most common conditions were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (20 cases), antitrypsin- deficiency emphysema (19 cases), cystic fibrosis (8 cases), and pulmonary hypertension (8 cases). Actuarial 1-year survival was 90 percent among one-lung recipients and 82 percent among two-lung recipients. Pulmonary function tests and hemodynamic measurements improved after transplantation. The authors conclude that lung transplantation has "come of age."

— THL

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine October 18, 1991

Citation(s):

Trulock EP et al. The Washington University-Barnes Hospital experience with lung transplantation. JAMA 1991 Oct 9 266 1943-1946.

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