In the past five years, the number of lung transplantations carried out has increased by about 20%. In the end stage of various lung diseases, transplantation is the last remaining option for treatment, and it can both prolong life and improve its quality. Marc Hartert and colleagues have studied how patients do after a lung transplant, and their review appears in the current edition of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.What they found is that deaths in the 90 days after an operation for lung transplantation have gone down over the past 25 years from 19.4% to 10%.

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