A lung transplant is a surgical procedure in which a damaged lung is replaced with a healthy lung from a deceased donor. To make the best use of the limited availability of donor lungs, appropriate selection criteria are needed to identify patients who are most likely to benefit from a transplant.
Older patients are less likely to be eligible for transplantation because they may have other health problems and a shorter life expectancy after the procedure; however, a recent UHN study suggests that a person's age alone should not prevent them from receiving a lung transplant.
The study, led by TGHRI Clinical Researcher Dr. Lianne Singer, included 326 lung transplantation recipients, of which over 100 were 60 years of age or older. Those who participated in the study completed five different questionnaires evaluating their health-related quality of life before transplantation and up to five years after. By analyzing participants' responses to the questionnaires, researchers discovered that younger and older recipients experienced similar improvements in their quality of life.
"Our findings suggest that the age of a transplant candidate should only be considered in conjunction with other health factors. Age alone does not determine how much a person will benefit from the transplant. Moreover, our findings will enable physicians to provide better information to transplant candidates and their families about what to expect after the procedure." says Dr. Singer.
This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation, the Canadian Lung Transplant Study Group, the University Health Network Multi-Organ Transplant Program, Ontario Lung Association-Pfizer Canada and the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation.
Effects of recipient age and diagnosis on health-related quality of life benefit of lung transplantation. Singer LG, Chowdhury NA, Faughnan ME, Granton J, Keshavjee S, Marras TK, Tullis DE, Waddell TK, Tomlinson G. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2015 July 1. [Pubmed abstract]