Lung Transplant

If you need a lung transplant, our multidisciplinary team at the Miami Transplant Institute will provide the best possible care. Our knowledge, experience, and advanced surgical procedures allow us to treat the most challenging patients. We also collaborate with Jackson Health System’s pulmonologists, cardiac surgeons, and cardiologists to address advanced lung disease and other serious problems related to the lungs.

The lungs are critical in delivering oxygen to the rest of the body. When the lungs stop functioning properly due to severe disease or injury, a lung transplant may be necessary. A lung transplant is a surgical procedure that replaces one or both diseased or damaged lungs with healthy lungs from a deceased donor.

You may be a good candidate for a lung transplant if you have a severe lung disease that is getting worse or a condition that prevents your lungs from working properly. If your condition is so serious that other treatments don’t work and you have a life expectancy of 12 to 24 months, a lung transplant may be the only option.

Lung transplants are most often performed to treat people who have severe:

Most of our transplant patients have interstitial lung disease, a group of disorders that cause permanent scarring of the lungs and make it increasingly difficult to breathe. Other types of advanced lung disease include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis, and cystic fibrosis. These conditions—which tend to be underdiagnosed—generally do not respond adequately to medical treatment. As the disease worsens, a lung transplant may be the only available course of treatment.

While a lung transplant can be a life-saving procedure for patients with severe lung disease, not all patients are candidates for surgery.

Factors that may affect your eligibility for receiving a lung transplant include:

Lung transplants are not very common because of the limited amount of donor organs available. About 2,500 lung transplants were done in the United States in 2021. More donor lungs would increase the number of lungs that can be transplanted.

There are three main types of lung transplants:

Before a lung transplant, you must go through a thorough pre-transplant screening. During an evaluation, your doctors and transplant team may review your medical history, conduct a physical examination, and evaluate your mental and emotional health. The medical team will also confirm whether you smoke or use alcohol or drugs. Lung transplant recipients must be nicotine-free for several months before being put on the transplant list.

You also will have tests conducted to determine whether you’re healthy enough for a lung transplant. Tests may include:

The first year after the lung transplant surgery is the most critical. This is when the risk of complications is highest. The main risks or complications of a lung transplant include:

Before you begin your lung transplant surgery, you will receive general anesthesia. The general anesthesia will put you to sleep so that you do not feel any pain during the surgery. Your healthcare provider will monitor your heart and blood pressure with an electrocardiogram (EKG).

Once you are asleep, your surgeon will make a small incision in your chest. Then they will insert a central venous catheter into a vein. This tube allows easy access to your bloodstream so that fluids and medicines can be transported to your body.  

Next, your doctors will insert a tube in your mouth and down your windpipe to support your breathing. They will also insert a tube in your nose and down to your stomach to drain contents from your stomach. A catheter will be used to keep your bladder empty.

The surgeon will make an incision in your chest to open it. They will cut the main airway to your diseased or injured lung along with the blood vessels that connect to your lung and heart. Then the surgeon will remove your diseased lung and replace it with the donor’s lung. After replacing the organ, the main airway of the donor’s lung along with its blood vessels will be connected to your airway and heart.  

During a double-lung transplant, the surgeon will remove both of your diseased lungs, one at a time, and replace them with the donor’s lungs. A single-lung transplant typically takes 4 to 8 hours. While a double-lung transplant typically takes 6 to 12 hours.

After lung transplant surgery, you’ll move to an intensive care unit for several days. Your healthcare providers will monitor your overall health and wait for you to wake up. While in the ICU, you will still be equipped with a tube in your windpipe to help you breathe, as well as other tubes to deliver medicines and drain fluids from your body. 

Once your healthcare providers believe it’s safe, you will be moved to the post-transplant unit to continue your recovery. As your body continues to heal, the medical team will teach you how to keep track of your overall health and detect signs of complications. You will work with a respiratory therapist to build strength in your lungs and learn how to check your lung function with a spirometer. You’ll be in the hospital for about 2 weeks after surgery, in some cases, it can be longer. Many individuals return to a good quality of life within three to six months.

A lung transplant can improve your quality of life and extend your life expectancy. The outlook for people who have had a lung transplant has improved in recent years and it’s expected to continue improving. By following your post-transplant program, taking care to prevent infections and monitoring your own health, you can continue to live a healthy, fulfilling life for many years to come.

A healthy diet and nutrition play an important role in your recovery after a lung transplant and in your long-term health. Within the first few months after surgery, you need enough calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals to help heal your wounds, rebuild muscle, and allow your body to fully recover. 

Once you have recovered from your transplant surgery, it is important to eat well to keep your new lung healthy and manage the longer-term side effects of your medications. Transplant medications can increase your chance of developing obesity, heart disease, diabetes, bone loss, and high levels of potassium in your blood. Following a healthy diet plan after your lung transplant can help manage these issues. 

A healthy diet includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It also includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and fat-free or low-fat milk or milk products. A healthy diet is low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium (salt), and added sugars. Your transplant dietitian will work with you to develop a personalized plan and help you understand your dietary needs and restrictions.

Exercise is an important part of rehabilitation after your lung transplant and should continue to be a regular part of your life. The transplant team will work with you to design an exercise program that’s right for you. Your exercise program may include warm-up exercises, such as stretching or slow walking. Once your body has recovered from the surgery, your plan may also include aerobic activities, such as brisk walking or bicycling, along with strength training. This will help you improve how well your lungs work after the transplant, maintain a healthy weight, control blood pressure, reduce stress levels, and strengthen your bones. As you become more fit, your body is able to use oxygen more effectively.

As an academic transplant center, we conduct clinical trials and can apply the latest research findings to clinical care. For example, we are able to put donor lungs in respiratory function equipment and test their capability before implanting them into a patient.

These are some of the ways our lung transplant program is saving lives while leading the way into the future.