lung transplant

medical procedure

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Last updated

June 30, 2026

Quick Summary

A lung transplant is a medical procedure to replace a diseased lung with a healthy one from a donor. The first single-lung transplant occurred in 1963, but long-term success was achieved in the 1980s for both single and double lung transplants. This procedure offers improved lung function for individuals with severe conditions like cystic fibrosis, emphysema, and pulmonary hypertension.1

However, lung transplantation faces challenges. The lungs' exposure to air makes them susceptible to infection, and the body's immune system can reject the transplanted organ, even with immunosuppressant drugs. A major complication is bronchiolitis obliterans, a gradual rejection of the transplanted tissue. Despite these difficulties, median survival for lung transplant patients has reached over five years, though a shortage of donor lungs limits the number of procedures performed.21

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transplant
The lung
Chronic fatal disease of the lung is common, but the progress of the disease is usually slow, and the patient may be ill for a long time. When the lung eventually fails, the patient is likely to be unfit for a general anesthetic and…
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Chronic fatal disease of the lung is common, but the progress of the disease is usually slow, and the patient may be ill for a long time. When the lung eventually fails, the patient is likely to be unfit for a general anesthetic and…
Read More

University of Mississippi
…Professions; the world’s first human lung transplant was performed there in 1963. In 1962, over the objection of state officials, the U.S. Supreme Court forced the university to accept racial integration and admit African American student James H. Meredith. The School of Accountancy, established in 1979, was one of the…
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…Professions; the world’s first human lung transplant was performed there in 1963. In 1962, over the objection of state officials, the U.S. Supreme Court forced the university to accept racial integration and admit African American student James H. Meredith. The School of Accountancy, established in 1979, was one of the…
Read More

history of medicine
Organ transplantation
Lung transplants were difficult procedures. James Hardy performed the first operation in 1963, though the patient survived just 18 days. In 1983 Joel D. Cooper, a thoracic surgeon at Toronto General Hospital, performed the first successful single lung transplant; the patient survived six years. In…
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Lung transplants were difficult procedures. James Hardy performed the first operation in 1963, though the patient survived just 18 days. In 1983 Joel D. Cooper, a thoracic surgeon at Toronto General Hospital, performed the first successful single lung transplant; the patient survived six years. In…
Read More