Indications for lung transplantation
While all patients with isolated lung disease or combined heart and lung disease still underwent combined heart-lung transplantation in the 1980s, the range of indications has clearly shifted in favour of single lung transplantation ever since this procedure became established.
The following list gives a rough summary of the most important indications for LTx:
Indications for single lung transplant
- Pulmonary fibrosis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (severe emphysema / alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency)
Indications for double lung transplant
- Mucoviscidosis (cystic fibrosis)
- Generalised bronchiectasis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (severe emphysema / alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency) with treatment-refractory bacterial colonisation)
- Pulmonary hypertension
Indications for combined heart-lung transplant
- Congenital heart defects with Eisenmenger reaction
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Pulmonary diseases with independent cardiac disease