The current system for allocating donated lungs based on proximity and not on need appears to decrease the potential benefits of lung transplantation and increase the number of patients who die waiting, researchers said at an annual meeting of thoracic surgeons in Fort Lauderdale, Fla…

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support in awake, non-intubated patients may be an effective strategy for bridging patients to lung transplantation, according to a new study from Germany. “As waiting times for donor organs continue to increase, so does the need for bridging strategies for patients with end-stage lung disease awaiting transplantation,” said Marius M…

Surgeons at UK HealthCare recently became the first ever to perform two specific procedures together as a bridge to lung transplantation. Wanda Craig, of Lexington, Ky…

Two papers published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (20:5), now freely available on-line here, highlight the therapeutic potential of human Sertoli cells that are present in the testes and are also called “nurse” or “mother” cells because they nurture the developing sperm cells…

Last month in Sweden, a man suffering from late-stage tracheal cancer received a new windpipe made in the lab from a synthetic scaffold with flesh grown from his own stem cells. This is the first successful transplant in the world of a tissue-engineered trachea that does not use a scaffold made from a donor organ…

For the first time, scientists at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network have shown in a clinical trial that the Toronto XVIVO System can safely and effectively treat, re-assess and improve the function of high-risk donor lungs so that they can be successfully transplanted into patients…

Lung transplant patients have double the risk of organ rejection and death within five years of the procedure if they live near a main road, indicates research published online in Thorax. The Belgian researchers tracked the health of 281 patients who had undergone a lung transplant or retransplant at the same hospital between 1997 and 2008 until 2009…

Today, Heinz-Dieter Hilgers comes only once per month to the Ruhrlandklinik hospital for a routine check-up. Nine months ago, in June 2010, his situation was dramatic: Suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for almost two years, Hilgers, 49 years young, had been listed for lung transplant since April 2009…

A lung transplant can mean a new chance at life. But many who receive one develop a debilitating, fatal condition that causes scar tissue to build up in the lungs and chokes off the ability to breathe…

Simple changes to how ventilators are used could almost double the number of lungs available for transplants, according to new international research involving a doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital. Many potential donor lungs deteriorate between the time a patient is declared brain dead and the time the lungs are evaluated to determine whether they are suitable for transplant…