Current status and challenges of lung transplantation in China

Abstract

Lung transplantation (LTx) is the only effective treatment for patients with end-stage lung disease. The field of LTx has undergone tremendous progress over the past four decades in China. The domestic filed of LTx is in a new era of rapid development. Clinically, LTx is steadily increasing both in quantity and quality. It has been reported that 3 600 LTx have been successfully performed in the last 7 years, and 54 institutions have been accredited to perform LTx. In scientific research terms, the international top-tier journals have recently published clinical research data on LTx in China for the first time. In addition, several exciting breakthroughs have been made in basic research of LTx in China, indicating that both the clinical work and scientific research of LTx are gradually approaching the forefront worldwide. In spite of significant advancements, several challenges and bottlenecks remain, including the LTx team building, quality control, implement of standard procedure and technical specification, development of expert consensus and guideline, data registration, and database creating. This paper aims to review the current domestic status of LTx from both clinical and scientific researching perspectives, and afterwards analyze the main challenges faced.

Keywords

• lung transplantation
• current situation
• challenge
• quality control
• team building