Authors' objectives:

To provide service delivery guidelines for lung transplant procedures.

Authors' recommendations: Lung transplantation offers the promise of improved survival and quality of life to selected people with life threatening lung diseases. There is a high degree of risk attached to the surgery and the post-operative course of treatment. However, the outlook for patients receiving transplants, regardless of the form - single, bilateral or heart-lung - has improved significantly, with the majority of patients, approximately 80 per cent, living at least a year or more following their transplant, and 60 per cent living four or more years. Developments in immunosuppressive drugs, in particular the discovery of Cyclosporin in 1976, have played a key role in transplantation technologies. The shortage of donor organs has led to interest in alternatives to whole lung transplantation. These are lobar lung transplantation from living donors, lung volume reduction surgery and xenotransplantation.

Authors' methods: Guideline, Review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.msac.gov.au/

Year Published: 1998

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Australia

Organisation Name: Australian Health Technology Advisory Committee

Contact Address: Naarilla Hirsch, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Health Technology Unit, GPO Box 570, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

Copyright: Australian Health Technology Advisory Committee