Lung and heart–lung transplantation for congenital heart disease

Experimental heart-lung transplantation (HLT) preceded the first clinical success by 25 years. Initial studies in dogs were unsuccessful, probably due to respiratory failure secondary to denervation. Experimental success was achieved by Webb and Lower and in the late 1960s and 1970s, but the first three clinical attempts at HLT made by Cooley and later by Lillehei and Bernard were unsuccessful. The longest survival was for only 23 days, but some patients were able to be extubated and breathe spontaneously, allaying the concern of denervation-induced apnea.