A single lung transplantation for silicosis: the first successful lung transplantation case in Turkey

Abstract

When compared with the progress in other solid organ transplants in our country, lung transplantation has been neglected over the last 25 years. Since 1998, lung transplantation has attempted without success on nine occasions, five of which were heart-lung tranplants. We established a study group named SATÇAG (Süreyyapaşa Lung Transplant Study Group) to initiate a lung transplantation program at our center in 2007. The legal approval was granted at the end of 2008, and, right after the approval, we performed the first successful lung transplantation in our country. This paper reports the perioperative course and long-term follow-up of a 34-year-old male patient with an end-stage lung disease due to silicosis. The patient underwent a left single-lung transplantation in March 2009. The postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged from the hospital on the 21st postoperative day. Pneumothorax developed in the contralateral lung four times during the first six months. Pathologically-dignosed rejection attacks (A1-A2) and respiratory tract infections, including H1N1, were successfully managed. The patient has maintained his daily activities without any problems over the last 21 months and is still under clinical follow-up.