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The arterial anastomosis is performed with 5.0 Prolene; and the Atrium (Venous) is performed with 4.0 prolene
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How do you get on the lung transplant list and how do you get the lungs?I am 17 and my father has Emphysema I want to know what can he do to get on the lung transplant list as soon as possible because the medication for emphysema cause damage to the kidneys, heart and other organs. Which obviously lowers his chance to get the lungs. He has stopped smoking cold turkey. Please be as detailed and simple as possible I know that is a contradiction but remember I am 17 and just want to help my dad see my littlest brothers graduation.
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Good Video
I had a double lung transplant on 08/26/04 due to Cystic Fibrosis.
Are lung transplants risky? Yes. They are considered basically a last option when people have end stage lung disease. You have to be sick enough that without a lung transplant you'll die and yet well enough to survive the surgery. It can be a difficult balance to achieve since you can't have any active infections, fever, rash, etc. going on at the time of transplant. On the other hand, they have come a long way in the survival rates of individuals receiving lung transplants. Hospitals that have completed a large number of transplants are usually going to have the most experience transplant team members but they will also usually have the longest waiting lists. Those with a fewer quantity may not have the same success rate because they have fewer candidates from which to pull statistics – but they may also be easier to get listed with. Since lungs are allocated based on need and have to be matched by blood type as well as be within a certain geographical area that can help balance out the difference in the length of the lists. As far as geographic area, lungs need to be out of an oxygenated environment for as short a period of time as possible so they donor organizations try to keep donor lungs within that area if at all possible. If nobody within that area is 'sick enough' they may extend the area somewhat if there is someone who is 'sicker'.
As far as the procedure itself, they fortunately don't have to do the rib spreader thing (which really hurts just to think about!). At my transplant center, Barnes-Jewish Hospital/
Washington University in St. Louis, they make incisions similar to underwires in a bra. They are then able to get into the chest cavity and do their work. They remove the weakest lung first and transplant the corresponding new one. Once the new lung is stablized they remove the other old one and replace it with the remaining new one. It enables them to (typically) avoid putting people on the heart/lung bypass machine, which is a benefit. My surgery started at 5:15 AM and they told my family I was in recovery at 2:15 PM that afternoon. Since I had a previous procedure (pleurodisis) they had some difficulty removing one of my lungs, which made the surgery last a little longer than normal.
I figured it would feel horrible after the surgery, but they did an amazing job with the pain killers! As soon as I woke up I could breath and it was the most wonderful feeling. I was able to walk the next morning in ICU…chest tubes, IV's, catheters, etc. all still attached but it was all good. The next day I moved out of ICU and onto the regular hospital floor, bypassing the 'step down' unit. I was back on the treadmill three days after the surgery and discharged from the hospital in a week. I have had one episode of rejection – at about 18 months post transplant – but they got it under control and I haven't had any other rejection issues. We take lots of meds since we have to be immunosuppressed for the rest of our lives and there are side effects from those meds that sometimes require additional meds. We also have frequent PFT's (pulmonary functions tests), x-rays, blood work, etc. to monitor our status. They have to balance the immunosuppression so that we have some immune system left but not so much that it causes us to fight the new lungs. They also have to watch our kidneys since the immunosuppression drugs damage them. Everyone I've ever met that has had a lung transplant says they would do it all over again – even those that had post surgery challenges, etc.
Your sister needs to be seen by a pulmonolist who would need to refer her to a transplant center for evaluation. Each center has their own criteria and battery of tests that are necessary before someone is placed on a waiting list. While I hope your sister's leukemia wouldn't exclude her from transplant, there is that possibility since the immunosuppression drugs will lower her immune system and she could be more susceptible to other types of cancer or a leukemia repeat. That's something that your sister and her medical routine need to discuss with the transplant center. They may be more willing to do a living donor transplant too.
With a living donor, only one lobe of the lung is removed from the donor and transplanted into the patient. I don't know if they can remove one lobe from each lung of the donor or if they can only remove a lobe from one lung, but people can live normal lives without having full lungs. There haven't been as many living donor lung transplants and there would still be the impact of immunosuppression. But, if you can find family members with health lungs and the same blood type that may be a more viable alternative.
Your best bet is to get the transplant listing consideration going since only the medical experts can give you the answers you need in terms of your sister's specific case. Those of us here on 'Answers' can only give you our experiences.
Best wishes.