The Lung Transplant Foundation has assembled a panel of long-term lung transplant survivors (20+ years) who share what life has been like in the decades following their successful lung transplant. This panel is a celebration of all that is possible when we say “yes” to lung transplant. 🗓️ Mark the date: January 16, 2026🕰️ 7 […]
On October 11, 2025, the Alliance for Pulmonary Hypertension launched the inspiring “Wheels of Hope” campaign, following Czech cyclist and chef Lukáš Jakovec as he embarked on an extraordinary journey across Europe to raise awareness about organ donation and transplantation—all while cycling through some of Europe’s most challenging terrain. Key Numbers Route Highlights Starting from
Pulmonary arterial hypertension patients face unique challenges in lung transplantation. Unlike patients with other lung diseases, they often have relatively normal lung function tests but are in critical condition due to heart failure. This means they receive low priority scores in the standard Lung Allocation Score (LAS) system, which was designed primarily for patients with
The Council of Europe’s EDQM (European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare) Newsletter Transplant provides regular updates on transplantation-related developments across Europe. It covers policy, regulation, quality standards, and best practices related to organ donation, allocation, and transplant safety, ensuring harmonisation across European Union member states. Additionally, the newsletter shares news on scientific
Tacrolimus therapeutic drug monitoring is challenging due to high inter- and intra-patient variability. A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted by researchers at the University Hospital in Leuven, Belgium, on 293 de novo kidney transplant recipients during the first 14 days post-transplant. A fully automated Model-informed precision dosing (MIPD) application (1) was integrated into the
On October 11, the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM), Council of Europe European Donation Day, the Alliance for Pulmonary Hypertension launched a campaign to to honour donors and their families, to celebrate life after transplant, and to call for greater awareness of the urgent need for organ donation. The six
Introduction: A Mission on Two Wheels On October 11, 2025—European Donation Day, organised yearly by the the Council of Europe—the Alliance for Pulmonary Hypertension launched “Wheels of Hope,” an extraordinary campaign that combines athletic endurance, culinary culture, and life-saving advocacy. Czech chef and athlete Lukáš Jakovec embarked on a 9-month cycling journey from Udine, Italy,
A newly published review in Transplantation Direct explores the growing significance ofextracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), a therapy that modulates immune responses usingpatients’ own treated blood cells. The article, authored by Panagiotis Parsonidis, MSc, and Prof. Thomas Wekerle of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, highlights extracorporeal photopheresis’s established safety record while pointing to future opportunities for
Researchers may have found a way to predict which lung transplant patients will develop serious complications before symptoms appear. In a study titled “Increase in Alveolar Septal Width Is a Histological Predictor of Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction and Survival in Lung Transplant Recipients—A Longitudinal Study” the authors measure the thickness of air sac walls in lung
What is pulmonary arterial hypertension and why does risk assessment matter? Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare, serious disease where the blood vessels in thelungs become too narrow. This makes the right side of the heart work harder, which overtime can lead to heart failure. Because it can progress quickly, doctors use risk assessment (sometimes
Maggy Surace is the President of the French Pulmonary Hypertension Association HTaPFrance and a double lung transplant recipient. She was among the 1,513 athletes from 50 different countries participating in the World Transplant Games in Dresden, Germany on August 17-24, 2025. Maggy trained for over 4 months for the swimming and athletics events. She left
The World Transplant Games are a remarkable international multisport event that brings together transplant recipients, living donors, donor families, supporters and friends to celebrate the Gift of Life and show the positive impact of organ donation. The games span seven days, featuring a program of both high-exertion and low-impact sports, with 2,500 participants, families, and
The World Transplant Games 2025, August 17-24 2025, Dresden, Germany Read Post »
Anna Jeter, is an artist, writer and photographer living in Excelsior, Minnesota, USA. She was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension at the age of 4 but only received a heart-lung transplant 19 years later, in 2018. In a recent article for Pulmonary Hypertension News she expresses gratitude for surviving long enough to receive the transplant
Terumo, a leading medical technology company based in Japan, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of OrganOx, for approximately $1.5 billion. OrganOx specializes in advanced organ preservation devices using Normothermic Machine Perfusion technology, which preserves organs longer by circulating oxygen and nutrient-rich fluids through organs at near-body temperature. This technology enables
On BBC News on 22 August 2025, Emma Stanley tells the incredible story of Catherine Makin, a double lung transplant patient. Catherine Makin, 42, a National Health Service (NHS) clerical worker from Great Harwood, Lancashire, has won 10 medals in swimming and table tennis at the British Transplant Games after receiving a double lung transplant
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has achieved a historic milestone by performing the Gulf region’s first robotic lung transplants, making it one of only five centers worldwide to successfully complete this advanced procedure. Two patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and secondary pulmonary hypertension have undergone the surgery. These surgeries were quite complex due to pulmonary hypertension,
First robotic lung transplant in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Gulf Today, July 8, 2025 Read Post »
The key findings from the Pulmonary Hypertension Global Patient Survey (PHGPS) adult cohort of 3,329 patients have been published in the ERJ Open Research 2025, highlighting the achievements, shortcomings & regional disparities of clinical care & research globally. The Pulmonary Hypertension Global Patient Survey represents the most extensive survey of its type in the pulmonary
A large US registry study of 1,671 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) over 4607 person-years of follow up found that lung transplant referrals are occurring far too infrequently and too late in the disease course. Despite professional society recommendations for early referral, only 12% of patients were referred for transplantation over the study period.
In their recent open-access article for the Zentralblatt für Chirurgie, Drs.: Szofia Kovacs, Alberto Benazzo, and Peter Jaksch review the latest International Society for Lung and Heart Transplantion (ISHLT) guidelines on lung transplantation, highlighting a major shift toward personalized, inclusive care. Beyond the underlying lung disease, transplant decisions now consider age, frailty, comorbidities, and psychosocial
Early referral for lung transplantation can be life-saving for people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In this important review, van der Ploeg et al. explore when and how patients across major respiratory diseases especially Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension should be referred for transplant evaluation. As medical therapies continue to improve, the urgency and timing of referral
