Medical Management Considerations for Patients With Lung Transplantation

Lung transplantation has become an accepted modality for the treatment of end-stage lung disease. Adult and pediatric patients with a variety of lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis, chronic obstruc-tive pulmonary disease, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are candidates for lung transplantation. Lung transplantation can extend survival and improve quality of life for these patients. With the intro-duction of new immunosuppressive agents and enhanced surgical and medical care, both short-and long-term morbidity and mortality in these populations, although not as good as other transplant types, are improving. After lung transplantation, recipients continue to face a number of obstacles including post-operative complications, complex drug regimens, drug-induced toxicities, infection, and rejection. An understanding of the management and monitoring issues after lung transplantation is the focus of this review. KEY WORD: lung transplantation