How does lung donation work?
Living lung donation involves two adults giving the right and left lower lobes from each respectively to an adult or pediatric recipient. The potential donors’ lungs must be the right size and volume. For adult recipients, the donors should be at least as tall as the recipient. Ideally, donors should not be overweight and should be nonsmokers. Potential donors receive a series of exams and tests including chest radiography, pulmonary function testing, ventilation-perfusion scanning and computed tomography, and a cardiac stress test. Again, donating a lung is riskier than live kidney donation and the risks and benefits will be discussed with the transplant team. Contact transplant centers for additional information about lung donation. You can find statistics and information about living donation at www.transplantliving.org, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Web site. Talk to your transplant center staff for more information about lung donation.
