Major Complications of Lung Transplant Surgery

Home The High-risk Surgical Patient Chapter Major Complications of Lung Transplant Surgery Antonino Massimiliano Grande, Alessia Alloni & Antonio Fiore M.D. Chapter First Online: 08 March 2023 3 Accesses Abstract Lung transplantation (LT) is a life-saving treatment that determines an enhanced quality of life in patients with end-stage respiratory failure who are unresponsive to other medical or surgical interventions. Every year, more than 4600 LT are performed worldwide, of which 55% are in North America, 36% in Europe; approximately 80% of these are bilateral LT. The current median survival after LT worldwide is 6.2 years; when recipients survive the first year after LT, the median survival is 8.3 years; median survival is significantly ameliorated considering that between 1990 and 1998 it was 4.3 years and between 2009 and 2016 it was 6.5 years. Furthermore, the expanded donor criteria (that consent to consider previously unacceptable lungs) have not had detrimental effects on survival and long-term graft outcomes and have decreased waiting list mortality. Throughout this chapter, we have outlined the salient aspects involved in LT failure to improve long-term survival and to increase the number of LT recipients.