The NY Times has a story on how lung transplantation rates and results have improved. Two things have happened
1. The waiting lists are now geared towards providing transplants to those with the most need and not to those who have been waiting the most - this ensures that those who need transplants earlier get them and do not die while waiting
2. The ability to harvest lungs successfully has improved considerably
This is one more example of how success in many areas in medicine are not necessarily skill-based, but are sometimes a result of tweaking procedural or logistical issues.
In India, we still don't do lung transplants, predominantly due to the high prevalence and incidence of tuberculosis. There is however, a large number of patients, that needs this procedure and it may not be a bad idea for someone to at least start lung transplants, in this country.
Comments