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Lung and Heart-Lung Transplantation
Organ transplantation that prolongs and dramatically improves quality of life is practically a daily occurrence at Columbia University Medical Center.
For patients suffering from advanced emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, or other debilitating respiratory disorders, lung transplantation offers a return to improved breathing and an excellent quality of life.
A wealth of experience, a record of success
Columbia University Medical Center's lung and heart-lung transplantation program, which began in 1985, is fast approaching its 200th transplant.
Performing more than 30 transplants each year, the lung and heart-lung transplant teams have earned a national reputation for excellence.
In addition, Columbia University Medical Center's world-renowned transplantation researchers have helped lead the way to improvements in care that, nationwide, have increased the long-term survival rate for lung transplantation by 50% over the past seven years.
Among those improvements are new immunosuppressive agents, new antibiotics, refined surgical techniques, and a more comprehensive understanding of follow-up care.
A recognized leader in high-risk cases
High-risk individuals, even those excluded from other transplant programs, can often find help at Columbia University Medical Center.
Complex illnesses, including congenital cardiopulmonary disorders, certain cancers, and multiple organ transplants, need not preclude the possibility of transplantation.
If a difficult re-operative condition exists, the surgeons and clinical specialists at Columbia University Medical Center have the expertise to offer treatment when others may not.
Specialists in pediatric transplantation
Columbia University Medical Center is one of only a handful of medical centers in the United States performing pediatric lung transplantation.
The pediatric specialists at Columbia University Medical Center's Babies & Children's Hospital, the oldest and largest university-affiliated children's hospital in New York City, ensure that the youngest patients in need of transplantation receive expert, comprehensive, and age-specific care.
These patients also benefit from the pediatric lung and heart-lung transplantation program's integration with other specialized services at Babies & Children's Hospital, including its Cystic Fibrosis Center.
A commitment to living donor lung transplantation
Living donor lung transplantation is an innovative procedure in which two donors, related or not, each donate a lower lobe.
Together, these lobes serve as a full lung for the recipient.
With a growing experience in this surgery, which can benefit both adults and children, Columbia University Medical Center is committed to becoming the specialist in the eastern United States for this new technique which can benefit both adults and children.
Teamwork optimizes success
The Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Columbia University Medical Center draws upon the talents of a broad range of health-care professionals, including surgeons, pulmonologists, immunologists, endocrinologists, nurse coordinators, intensive care unit clinicians, rehabilitation medicine specialists, physical therapists, psychiatrists, social workers, and financial counselors.
Members of this multidisciplinary team meet to evaluate the profile of each transplant applicant, reviewing the patient's medical history, physical examination, and laboratory and radiographic data.
Together, they perform the comprehensive assessment and provide the individualized treatment that each candidate deserves.
Who is Eligible for Lung or Heart-lung Transplantation?
Candidates for lung or heart-lung transplantation are severely impaired in their daily activities.
They are without the possibility of alternative medical or surgical therapy and, left untreated, have a poor outlook for long-term survival.
Unfortunately, not all of these individuals will benefit from transplantation.
Those who have severe systemic diseases or active infections and those who cannot comply with regular follow-up care after transplant should not undertake the operation.
Columbia University Medical Center provides Second Opinion evaluations
Today, medical treatment options are constantly evolving and expanding.
Columbia University Medical Center's clinicians are committed to ensuring that diagnoses of potentially life-threatening diseases are accurate, and that patients and their referring physicians are aware of all possible treatment options.
To learn more about Columbia University Medical Center's Second Opinion Program, please call, toll-free, 1.877.2ND.OPINION.
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