ABSTRACT
Lung transplantation has become a well-established and effective treatment option for patients with end-stage lung diseases. There has been a steady rise in the number of patients awaiting lung transplantation while the number of lung transplants performed has increased at a much slower rate. For all practical purposes the number of deceased donors has not changed significantly over the past decade, and the rate of donor procurement for lungs is less than 20% (1). These factors result in a significant number of deaths on the lung transplant waiting list, because there are not enough donor lungs for the number of patients listed for transplant. The majority of brain-dead donors are not deemed suitable to donate lungs, often due to acute lung injury associated with the cause or sequelae of brain death, such as trauma, infection, and aspiration.
