Time to re-assess lung donation concept

According to researchers, it may be possible to increase the supply of lungs for transplant.There is always a shortage of organs for transplantation. Researchers in San Francisco and Nashville have been looking at the supply of lungs for transplant. They note that currently 80 per cent of lungs are rejected. That's a very high number. Could the criteria for selection be too strict?

The researchers checked 30 pairs of lungs that had been rejected for transplant. They did physiological tests, microbiological tests and lab studies on the lung tissue. They thought that 45 per cent of the sample could well have been used in a transplant operation. It's time to review the rules that doctors use to select lungs for transplant, they say. Maybe this will lead to an increase in the supply of donated lungs and that, in turn, could save many lives.