Patients with end-stage emphysema can be offered lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), lung transplantation, or unilateral lung transplantation combined with contralateral LVRS if necessary, depending on multiple factors including age, lung function parameters, lobar predominance, and whether the disease is uni- or bilateral. Lung transplant is a complex and well-established therapeutic modality for patients with end-stage lung disease. The ideal candidate for LVRS is a patient with severe upper-lobe predominant emphysema and markedly impaired exercise capacity. Other groups may benefit from the procedure, but results are likely to be less good. The objective of this chapter is to describe the surgical techniques of bilateral lung transplantation and lung volume reduction surgery as performed at the University of Toronto.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.