ABSTRACT

The first human lung transplant was performed in 1963; however, it was not until the 1980s that improvements in surgical technique and improved immunosuppression regimens made lung transplantation the “gold standard” treatment for a variety of end-stage lung diseases. Since that time, the number of reported lung transplants has been increasing steadily, with more than 3800 transplants performed worldwide in 2012 and recorded in the Registry of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT). 1