International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Updates Lung Transplant Recipient Selection Criteria
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) April 13, 2014 -- Today The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), a not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to improving the care of patients with advanced heart or lung disease, will announce the updated Consensus Document for Lung Transplant Recipient Selection. These updates will be given as part of a report that contains a comprehensive review with updated recommendations for lung transplant recipient selection.
Fourteen international thoracic physicians and surgeons co-authored an updated version of the guidelines, last published in 2006. Their goal was to provide recommendations with emphasis on revised criteria that will be used to determine lung transplant recipient eligibility. The new consensus document follows the adoption of liberalized selection terms that adhere less strictly to age limitation, co-morbid disease, type and severity of concurrent infection; and support the conditional acceptance of patients who are artificially supported with mechanical lung ventilation or extracorporeal life support. An updated list of absolute contraindications include untreatable or significant dysfunction of another major organ system, malignancy, and acute medical instability.
“The goal of the current consensus document is to assist physicians [who refer patients for lung transplantation] to properly identify individuals who are likely to benefit from lung transplantation,” said Dr. David Weill, Medical Director of the Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program, Director of the Center for Advanced Lung Disease at Stanford University and Chair of the Writing Group for the 2014 Consensus Document for Lung Transplant Recipient Selection. “We’ve had a unique opportunity to pull together physicians and surgeons who are considered to be experts in their field, to come up with these guidelines to assist both patients and non-patients.”
With the new consensus document for lung transplant recipient selection, patients who were previously considered high risk now may be reasonable candidates.
The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) is a not-for-profit professional organization with more than 2,700 members from over 45 countries dedicated to improving the core of patients with advanced heart or lung disease through transplantation, mechanical support and innovative therapies via research, education and advocacy. For more information, visit http://www.ishlt.org.
Maren Minchew, 210.251.5199, [email protected]
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