300 lung transplants in 7 years. The youngest recipient was 8 years old.
As reported by the hospital, since 2018, SCCS surgeons have performed a number of pioneering surgeries, including the first lung transplant in Poland after COVID-19, as well as simultaneous lung and kidney and lung and liver transplants.
- Currently, we perform the most complicated surgeries, often in patients with rare genetic diseases (Mounier-Khun syndrome and Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome). We also increasingly undertake lung retransplantation, which are extremely complicated surgical procedures - said transplantologist and head of the department, Dr. Maciej Urlik.
The youngest recipient was eight years old, and the oldest was 72. Most of the surgeries are bilateral transplants, performed using a minimally invasive method without opening the sternum, which shortens the recovery period.
The team consists of several dozen specialists - transplantologists, pulmonologists, anaesthesiologists, nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians and psychologists.
- We have gained experience over seven years of working together. The first transplants we performed lasted a dozen or so hours. Currently, such a standard procedure takes about six hours - added Dr. Urlik.
The program is developing thanks to constant improvement of qualifications. Doctors trained in Hanover, Toronto and New York, among others, and they share their experience with centers in Warsaw, Szczecin, Krakow and Lviv.
The history of lung transplantation in Poland dates back to 2001, when Prof. Marian Zembala and his team performed the first national heart and lung transplantation in Zabrze. Two years later, the first successful single lung transplantation was performed at SCCS. The first minimally invasive lung transplantation was performed in 2005.
Until 2018, SCCS performed an average of 14 such surgeries per year; since the new team was established, the numbers have been rising: 23 procedures in 2018, 47 in 2023 and a record 60 in 2024.
Although lung transplantation is considered one of the most difficult procedures due to the organ's susceptibility to infections, doctors emphasize that for patients with end-stage respiratory failure it is often the only chance for survival.
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