Lung transplantation: The blood type as well as the weight and size ratio between the donor and the recipient play an important role

Lung transplantation is an established method in the treatment of advanced lung diseases. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis and other diagnoses are the most common candidates for lung transplantation. Approximately 150 patients from all over the Czech Republic are examined annually, and about 50% of them are included in the waiting list, with approximately 40 transplants being performed annually. Lung transplantation is one of the youngest surgeries of this type in medicine. The first one in history was performed in the USA by James Hardy in 1963. In the Czech Republic, the first lung transplantation wa performed on December 22, 1997 by a team of Professor Pavel Pafek from the Motol University Hospital in Prague.