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Transplant
Process
Initial Interview
A relationship
with the Loyola University Health System Lung Transplantation
Program often begins with a phone call to the transplant
nurse coordinator. You, your referring
physician or the referring physician's nurse may
make this initial call. During this interview process,
Loyola's nurse coordinator will ask for the patient's
past and current medical conditions to determine if
the condition meets the criteria for further evaluation
for transplant. This phone conversation may take 20-30
minutes to gather all of the information needed.
If
indicated, you will be scheduled for an appointment
in Loyola's Lung Transplant Clinic located at Oakbrook
Terrace Medical Center. During this first appointment,
you will meet a pulmonary transplant physician and a
nurse transplant coordinator.
Work-Up
At the initial appointment, you are required to bring
a written medical summary from the referring physician,
and any copies of past chest X-rays, chest scans, sputum
culture results, heart test results and pulmonary test
results. Additional tests may be performed to allow
for a complete evaluation of your potential candidacy
for a lung transplant. The exact tests required will
be determined during that first appointment. Possible
tests may include multiple blood samples, pulmonary
function tests, heart tests, chest scans and X-rays.
When any of these test results are abnormal, further
testing will be necessary.
Although
you may have been told that a lung transplant is needed
to improve your condition, a final decision cannot be
made until extensive testing has been completed. Tests
to evaluate the condition of your heart, lungs, kidneys,
immune system and nutrition may discover that:
- continued
medical treatment would improve your condition
- a
surgical procedure other than a transplant would be
helpful
- a
condition exists that disqualifies you for successful
transplant.
Surgical
Options
The surgical
options available for lung transplant candidates are:
- Bilateral lung transplant
(both lungs are transplanted at the same time)
- Single lung transplant
- Heart-lung transplant
(a heart and two lungs from one donor are transplanted
at the same time)
Waiting
Once
the decision has
been made that you are an eligible transplant candidate,
your name will be placed on the national waiting list
managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing. Unfortunately,
Loyola cannot predict how long you will wait for a donor
lung(s). The wait for a donor lung(s) can range from
months to years. Many factors influence the actual waiting
time.
The
matching of a donor lung will be based on the following
factors:
- blood
type of both the donor and recipient
- height
of both the donor and recipient
- waiting
time of the potential recipient
- the
recipient's medical condition
When
the Loyola transplant team is notified of an available
organ(s), information about the medical condition and
health history of the donor are obtained. The surgeon
and transplant doctor will decide if the donor organ(s)
are healthy. The procurement team (surgeon and nurse)
will travel to the donor hospital. If the organ is deemed
unsuitable for transplant, the surgery is cancelled.
You will continue to wait for a suitable organ. Unfortunately,
this is a frequent occurrence. However, if the surgeon
and the transplant doctor decide the organ is suitable
for transplant, the organ is harvested from the donor,
packed in ice and transported back to Loyola.
The
operation is performed by the transplant surgeon and
the surgical team. Surgery takes approximately six to
10 hours.
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