NEW LUNGS for old as a means of prolonging the lives of persons with cystic fibrosis is a prospect that has inspired researchers in the past few years. At two recent meetings, developments in this specialized area of organ transplantation were reported.
In Toronto, Ontario, participants in the annual meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery heard from Marc R. deLeval, MD, who is the group's 24th Evarts A. Graham Memorial Traveling Fellow. DeLeval has been working in the Lung Transplant Research Unit at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, England. The program there receives worldwide recognition.
He presented a report on heart-lung transplantation performed there during the past 4 years on 32 patients who were severely impaired—near death from advanced respiratory failure—because of cystic fibrosis. He then compared the results in this group with results in 61 patients without the disease who received heart-lung transplants at Papworth Hospital during the same