Twin Cities Heart and Lung: Lung Transplant

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Heart Procedures

Lung Procedures

Vascular Procedures

Glossary of Medical Terms

The surgeons at Twin Cities Heart and Lung believe in patient education. We've designed our site to help you learn about procedures so you can understand them and proceed with your treatment with the knowledge to put your fears to rest.

List of Lung Procedures:

Procedures to Treat Lung Cancer

Lung Transplant

Transplant Evaluation

Activation for Transplant

Transplant and Organ Procurement

Before and After Transplant

Lung Volume Reduction Surgery

Lung transplantation involves more than the operation itself. Undergoing the evaluation, waiting for transplant, and recovery afterward represent a long journey for the patient and family. While most patients have an excellent outcome, some lifestyle changes are necessary for continued health after transplantation.

Transplant Evaluation

Many members of the lung transplant team are involved in evaluating a person's eligibility for transplantation. This group includes pulmonary transplant physicians and surgeons and physicians specializing in cardiology, infectious diseases, psychiatry and other areas. Certified transplant coordinators and licensed social workers assist the transplant candidate and family during and after the evaluation.

Potential lung transplant candidates must undergo detailed physical, laboratory and psychological testing to ensure proper selection and therapy. The typical evaluation takes a few days and includes assessing the respiratory, cardiac, kidney, liver and immune systems. Tests typically include the following:

Computerized tomography (CT) scanning	Pulmonary function tests
Nuclear medicine lung scanning	Renal (kidney) function studies
Blood and tissue typing	Evaluation of the immune status
Routine and specialty medical tests as clinically indicated	Right and left heart catheterizations
Exercise studies

The transplant team evaluates test results and screening assessments for each patient to determine the likelihood of a successful transplant. Patients who can be expected to undergo a transplant with a reasonable margin of safety will be added to a waiting list. Patients return for a visit with the transplant physicians to discuss the outcome of their evaluation and their suitability for a transplant. Patients who are not considered candidates for transplantation will be offered alternative medical or surgical care if there are any available.

Activation for Transplant

Individuals approved for transplant are placed on the active list and are given a pager to notify them when a donor organ becomes available. Transplant recipients usually have two to three hours to reach the hospital to prepare for surgery. Therefore, transplant candidates must live close enough to arrive at the hospital in that time frame.

Transplant candidates are evaluated every three months or sooner if necessary. Regular communication between the transplant team and the referring physician is essential for successful shared care.

Transportation and Organ Procurement

Your surgeon at Twin Cities Heart will help transplant candidates coordinate any necessary air transportation to ensure rapid travel to the appropriate hospital when a donor organ becomes available.

After a transplant recipient receives notice that a compatible donor organ is available, he or she will be admitted to the hospital. The transplant physician will do a final evaluation to ensure the patient is still in appropriate condition for transplantation.

Coordination between the team of surgeons retrieving the organ and the team caring for the patient is vital. Before making the final decision to proceed with a transplant, the surgeon retrieving the lungs carefully examines them and their function to make sure they are viable. Surgery on the transplant recipient is not begun until the surgeon retrieving the organ approves it for transplant. Therefore, a lung transplant candidate could be admitted to the hospital and could even be in the operating room when the procedure is cancelled because the donor lungs did not remain viable. This process is called a "dry run," and it is important that the lung transplant candidate be emotionally prepared to deal with this situation. Doing a last-minute check on donor organ viability improves the likelihood of a successful transplant.

Once the surgeon retrieving the organ determines that the donor lung is viable, the team will begin surgery. Meanwhile, the retrieval surgeon preserves the lung, transports it to the hospital and joins the transplant surgery in progress.