ABSTRACT
Between 1963 and 1973, 36 patients underwent lung transplantation in medical centers throughout the world (1-3). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the primary indication for transplantation in nine of these patients, and was a coexistent condition in five or six others. In at least four of these recipients, antitrypsin-deficiency emphysema was the cause of the COPD. Only one recipient with COPD lived longer than 1 month, and there were no long-term survivors among these recipients. Respiratory failure, pneumonia, rejection, and airway complications were the main causes of death, but the moribund condition of some recipients before the operation undoubtedly contributed to the disappoint ing results.
