Lung and heart-lung transplantation in rabin medical center: Early experience with 70 cases

Lung transplantation is a relatively new field in solid organ transplantation. We present our early experience with the first 70 cases at the Rabin Medical Center during the years 1997-2003. Forty seven patients underwent single lung, eight double lung and eight heart-lung transplantations. The patients treated included 49 men and 21 women aged 5-66 years. There were 26 cases with emphysema/COPD, 30 patients with pulmonary fibrosis, 5 patients with pulmonary hypertension/Eisenmenger and 9 patients with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis. Although early results (1997-1999) showed 1 and 3 year survival of only 50%, in the last 3 years (2000-2003), survival reached 84% and 82% at 1 and 3 years respectively. Improvement in the success rate is due to better patient selection, new immunosuppressive regimen and, most importantly, excellent teamwork. We conclude that lung transplantation is a viable option for selected patients with end-stage lung disease.