Workshop on Lung Transplantation: Opportunities for Research and Clinical Advancement Sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Division of Lung Diseases, Department of Health and Human Services Bethesda, Maryland

Lung transplantation is the only definitive therapy for many forms of endstage lung diseases. However, the success of lung transplantation is limited by many factors: 1) Too few lungs available for transplantation due to limited donors or injury to the donor lung; 2) current methods of preservation of excised lungs do not allow extended periods of time between procurement and implantation; 3) acute graft failure is more common with lungs than other solid organs, thus, contributing to poorer short-term survival following lung transplant compared with that for recipients of other organs; 4) lung transplant recipients are particularly vulnerable to pulmonary infections; and 5) chronic allograft dysfunction, manifest by bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, is frequent and limits long-term survival. Scientific advances may provide significant improvements in the outcome of lung transplantation. Maryland to identify opportunities for scientific advancement in lung transplantation, including basic and clinical research. This workshop provides a framework to identify critical issues related to clinical lung transplantation, and to delineate important areas for productive scientific investigation.