History
The history of organ transplants began with several attempts that were unsuccessful due to transplant rejection. Animal experimentation by various pioneers, including Vladimir Demikhov and Dominique Metras, during the 1940s and 1950s, first demonstrated that the procedure was technically feasible. James Hardy of the University of Mississippi performed the first human lung transplant in 1963. Following a single-lung transplantation, the patient survived for 18 days. From 1963-1978, multiple attempts at lung transplantation failed because of rejection and problems with anastomotic bronchial healing. It was only after the invention of the heart-lung machine, coupled with the development of immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporine, that organs such as the lungs could be transplanted with a reasonable chance of patient recovery.
The first successful transplant surgery involving the lungs was a heart-lung transplant, performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of Stanford University on a woman who had idiopathic pulmonary hypertension.
- 1983: First successful long-term single lung transplant (Tom Hall) by Joel Cooper (Toronto)
- 1986: First successful long-term double lung transplant (Ann Harrison) by Joel Cooper (Toronto)
- 1988: First successful long-term double lung transplant for cystic fibrosis by Joel Cooper (Toronto).
Read more about this topic: Lung Transplantation
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