About the Lung Transplant Program
Surgeons at Cleveland Clinic performed 108 lung transplants in 2011. We completed our 1,070th transplant since the program’s inception in 1990. In 2009, Cleveland Clinic's lung transplant program set the world record for number of lung transplants performed in a single year.
Cleveland Clinic performed its first adult lung transplant on February 14, 1990. The first pediatric lung transplant was performed on September 8, 1991.
The Role of the Lung Transplantation Program
Cleveland Clinic's lung transplant program is an essential component of a broad medical and surgical strategy to manage all patients with pulmonary disease.
A double-lung transplant restores woman's vitality
Why Choose Cleveland Clinic For Your Lung Transplant
Cleveland Clinic is one of the nation's overall best hospitals, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2012-13 "America's Best Hospitals" rankings. Cleveland Clinic is ranked No. 4, and is recognized for excellence in most of the medical specialties ranked by the magazine.
In the last five years, Cleveland Clinic has proven to be a national leader in lung transplant, both in terms of patient volumes and successful outcomes. The transplant program has established a reputation for accepting and transplanting challenging, complex patients, which has led to our high referral rate. In 2011, the transplant team evaluated 588 patients with various forms of end-stage lung disease from across the United States as well as other countries. The average waiting time for a graft in our program remains stable, despite the new lung allocation score (LAS). In fact, 50 percent of our patients receive a transplant in about 3.7 months as compared to a national average of 50 percent receiving a lung in 4.7 months or less. The majority of our patients spent an average of about 161 days on the waiting list in 2011 before they were transplanted.
If you or a loved one would like a second opinion from a top specialist at Cleveland Clinic, but may be disabled or find it too difficult to travel, we offer MyConsult. The MyConsult program is an online medical second opinion that connects you to our physician experts who will review your medical records and diagnostic tests to assess your suitability for transplant.
Credentials of the Lung Transplantation Program
Cleveland Clinic's lung transplant program is a member of the Ohio Solid Organ Transplantation Consortium (OSOTC) and the United Network For Organ Sharing (UNOS), meeting all their requirements for lung transplantation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services certified us as a Medicare Center for heart/lung and lung transplantation, effective October 22, 1997.
For More Information
Jacquline Freshwater
Department Coordinator
Phone: 216.444.8282 or 800.223.2273 x48282