Advances in Care – Medications

The Institute also has been leading the improvement of post-operative care by addressing the most significant risks to lung transplantation patients – rejection of the "foreign" donor organ(s), as well as infection. Patients are put on the newest and most effective antirejection drugs (immunosuppressants) and powerful antibiotic regimens.

Through scientific and clinical research and participation in multi-center clinical trials, the Transplant Institute's physicians contribute to the advancement of lung transplantation by investigating new immunosuppressive drugs and exploring drug combinations to increase the longevity of a transplanted organ while decreasing side effects associated with therapy. Therapeutic regimens to prevent and treat infections also are being used and studied.

The Institute's researchers recently have discovered the role of a pair of protein receptors in the immune system's ability to develop tolerance to a new organ. This work is part of an ongoing investigation into why and how transplanted organs are rejected by the body so that new and improved methods for protecting a transplanted lung can evolve.

New immunological surveillance techniques now are being developed at the Transplant Institute to help diagnose of more subtle forms of rejection earlier than ever before, which ultimately may improve a lung transplant patient's quality and length of life. The researchers also are investigating methods for preserving donor lungs for a longer period of time before they must be transplanted. Additionally, lung transplant program clinical investigators are focusing on identifying specific factors in patients that would help determine the optimal timing of transplantation.