When to Refer a Patient for a Lung Transplant

Host: Darryl S. Chutka, M.D. [@chutkaMD]

Guest: Kelly Pennington, M.D.

Guest: Sahar Saddoughi, M.D., Ph.D.

The lung is one of the most common organs transplanted, trailing transplants of kidney, liver, and heart, with over 2600 performed in 2022. Lung transplantation may involve transplanting either one or both lungs, and occasionally performed together with a heart transplant. Although some patients with a lung transplant have lived more than 10 years, only about half are alive after 5 years. In this podcast, we’ll discuss “When to Refer a Patient for a Lung Transplant”. Who’s a candidate for a lung transplant and when should we think about this for our patients? How successful is a lung transplant and what are conditions that would exclude a patient from the procedure? These are all questions I’ll be asking my guests, thoracic surgeon, Sahar Saddoughi, M.D., Ph.D., and pulmonologist, Kelly Pennington, M.D., both from the Mayo Clinic in honor of ‘National Donate Life Month’.                 

Connect with the Mayo Clinic’s School of Continuous Professional Development online at https://ce.mayo.edu/ or on Twitter @MayoMedEd. 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/lung-transplant/home/orc-20211835