American Lung Association Funds Study to Improve Lung Transplant Success

In an effort to battle the increasing need for lung transplants, the American Lung Association has funded a research study focusing on preserving the organs.

Methods currently used to preserve other organs, such as the kidney and liver, have not proved as successful in extending lung life. The average preservation period is six to nine hours, making this a major limiting factor for lung transplants, according to Charles Y. Lee, Ph.D, who was awarded an American Lung Association research grant for his work at the Oakland Children's Hospital Research Institute.

Lee will use a cellular model to determine a set of storage conditions, such as temperature and preservation solution, that will improve the preservation period and increase the chances for more successful lung transplants. Although lung transplants can extend and improve life, the relatively new procedure is limited by both this inability to preserve available lungs and lack of donors.

"A lot of lives are prolonged and improved by five to 10 years with a transplant," says Pulmonologist Gordon Yung of the University of California, San Diego Medical Center. "The major limiting factor of lung transplants is the shortage of donors. It's because of a lack of awareness. It's also difficult for doctors to approach families of trauma victims at the time of death."

Potential Donors Should Talk to Family Members Before Crisis

People who are willing to donate their organs after they are gone should let their family and friends know of their wishes. It makes it easier for loved ones if the time ever comes for them to make that decision.

A shortage of donors results in a long waiting list. UCSD Medical Center performs approximately 20 lung transplants per year and has a waiting list of 160 patients.

"We have a two-year waiting list," Yung says. "It's difficult to predict what will happen with patients. They may not have enough time to wait on the list. Unfortunately, 10 to 20 percent of people on the list die (before transplant organs are available)."

Transplants are currently used for patients of all ages with life-threatening lung diseases such as emphysema, cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension. Approximately 850 lung transplants were performed in 1998. People waiting for a donor lung are registered with many of the 89 transplant programs around the nation.

More than 3,200 people around the nation who are in need of lung transplants are registered with United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), a nonprofit corporation in Richmond, Virginia. For more information about organ donation, call UNOS at (800) 24DONOR.

The organ shortage must be resolved by advancing medical research through grants like the lung preservation study and increasing awareness about lung donations because one thing remains clear: "If we had more lungs we could save more lives," Yung says.