Determining If You Are a Candidate for Lung Transplantation

November 19 09:09 2021 Print This Article

Your evaluation results will be presented at a multidisciplinary transplant-selection committee which discusses patients’ eligibility for lung transplantation at Kauvery Hospitals. They will review the results of your physical studies and discuss your understanding of your illness, the transplant process, and how lung transplantation will affect you and your family. They will also decide if transplantation is the best treatment option for your disease based on your pre-transplant evaluation.

Requirements for Listing for Lung Transplantation

As a patient being considered for lung transplantation at Kauvery Hospital, Dr. Srinivas Rajagopala, Director, Transplant Pulmonology & Lung Failure Unit,  will ask you to meet certain requirements to maximize transplant success. These include:

• Attending clinic appointments regularly before and after your transplant.
• Engaging in an ongoing pulmonary rehabilitation program before and after your transplant.
• Taking your medications on time and as prescribed.
• Following the transplant dietician’s nutritional guidelines/restrictions.
• Losing or gaining weight.
• Monitoring your fluid intake and blood pressure.
• Stopping the use of all tobacco products and alcohol, attending smoking cessation programs, relapse prevention, and/or additional psychological counseling where needed.
• Establishing a solid care plan.
• Relocating to Chennai, typically for three months.
• Fundraising to assist with expenses should this be necessary.
• Staying in contact, and communicating appropriately with the transplant team.

The Waiting List

 We have no way of knowing how long you will wait before transplantation as this depends on when a suitable donor offer becomes available.

• If your chest cavity is particularly large or small, or you have antibodies directed against the cell markers of others in the population, you may have a much longer wait time.
• Currently, Kauvery Hospitals offers patients one of the shortest waiting times in India because of the high donation rates in Tamil Nadu.
• Kauvery Hospitals is also the only centre in India routinely performing desensitization for reducing lung transplant waiting time successfully.
• You should try to maintain the best health possible while you are waiting for your transplant. You will be seen in the clinic on a regular basis and for any acute needs as needed.

All lung transplant candidates are listed in TRANSTAN and in the national waiting list maintained by NOTTO. Our program considers organs from Tamil Nadu as first priority but is also able to access organs from across India, subject to availability of sufficient time and connecting flights with reasonable ischemia time. You will be informed about chartered flights and costs at the time of listing; you can choose this option to maximise the chance of early organ availability.

Donor lungs are typically matched with recipients based on:

• Blood type (O, A, B or AB)
• Size (height and weight)
• Chest x-ray measurements (actual lung size)
• Other relevant factors are sometimes considered on a case-to-case basis (e.g antibodies, CMV status)

When donor lungs become available, they are offered to the patient with the longest waiting time on the TRANSTAN and NOTTO waiting list. Before donor lungs are accepted for a transplant, Dr. Srinivas Rajagopala, Director, Transplant Pulmonology & Lung Failure Unit, evaluates the donor’s medical and social history and examines the lungs by x-ray (or CT, where available), by bronchoscopy and visually intra-operatively. The most important consideration is the quality of the donor lungs. Donors are carefully screened for transmittable diseases, such as HIV and viral hepatitis, and organs are not accepted for transplant if any of these screens are positive. Because the donor lungs have to be used within six hours of retrieval, you are called for admission when the donor lung passes the initial tests (and evaluation is ongoing with a good likelihood of success)

A False Call

• Sometimes, a donor lung may pass initial tests and you may be called for admission into hospital for the transplant surgery.
• The donor organ may, however, fail to be suitable during subsequent testing or when the results of earlier testing are delayed.
• If this happens, you will be informed that the organ is not suitable for you and discharged. This may be stressful and is called a “false call” but remains unavoidable because of the short donor window available to us. The psychologist in the transplant team at Kauvery can help with relaxation techniques to manage the anxiety associated with these events if you need it.

Please contact us at +91 9150277712 for approx. cost details.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is a candidate for a lung transplant?

To be considered for a lung transplant at Kauvery Hospital, you’ll need to meet certain criteria including regular clinic visits, pulmonary rehab, medication adherence, and lifestyle changes.

2. How long is the wait for a lung transplant?

The waiting time varies depending on factors like blood type, chest cavity size, and antibody presence. Kauvery Hospital, one of the best lung transplant hospitals in India, offers some of the shortest waiting times in the country.

3. What factors are considered for lung donor matching?

Blood type, size (height and weight), chest x-ray measurements, and other factors like CMV status are considered for matching donors with recipients.

4. What happens if I’m called in for transplant but the lungs aren’t suitable?

Sometimes, initially suitable donor lungs might not be viable after further testing. This is called a “false call” and is unavoidable due to the limited window for transplant.

5. Does Kauvery Hospital offer any services to help manage the waitlist stress?

Yes, Kauvery Hospital has a transplant team psychologist who can provide relaxation techniques to manage anxiety during the waiting period.

Kauvery Hospital is globally known for its multidisciplinary services at all its Centers of Excellence, and for its comprehensive, Avant-Grade technology, especially in diagnostics and remedial care in heart diseases, transplantation, vascular and neurosciences medicine. Located in the heart of Trichy (Tennur, Royal Road and Alexandria Road (Cantonment), Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Tirunelveli and Bengaluru, the hospital also renders adult and pediatric trauma care.

Chennai – 044 4000 6000 • Trichy – Cantonment – 0431 4077777 • Trichy – Heartcity – 0431 4003500 • Trichy – Tennur – 0431 4022555 • Hosur – 04344 272727 • Salem – 0427 2677777 • Tirunelveli – 0462 4006000 • Bengaluru – 080 6801 6801