Lung transplantation is a surgical procedure in which a
patient’s diseased lungs are partially or totally replaced by
lungs which come from a donor. While lung transplants carry
certain associated risks, they can also extend life expectancy
and enhance the quality of life for end-stage pulmonary
patients. It is a life-preserving therapeutic intervention for a
variety of end-stage pulmonary diseases that has been used
successfully for the past 20 years. Since the early 1990s, more
than 6400 lung transplants have been performed, and lung
transplant programs exist in many countries. The agency for
health care policy and research in the United States has
concluded that “lung transplantation has evolved as a clinical
procedure achieving a favorable risk-benefit ratio and
acceptable 1- and 2-year survival rates.” Lung transplantation
is the therapeutic measure of last resort for patients with end-
stage lung disease who have exhausted all other available
treatments without improvement. A variety of conditions may ma