Lung Transplant Program

The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Lung Transplant Program, the largest program in New England over the past decade, is committed to providing the most innovative, effective, and compassionate care to our patients with advanced lung disease. A pioneer in lung transplantation, Brigham and Women's Hospital continues to lead with the resources, research, and expertise to offer life-saving care. For patients in need of lung transplantation, our experts at The Lung offer the most advanced surgical, therapeutic and life-preserving techniques—performed with skill and compassion.

This commitment is based on a long tradition of excellence. Our program has been the source of several transplant milestones, including the first adult lung transplant in Massachusetts and the first bilateral (double) lung transplant in New England. Building upon these groundbreaking efforts, we continue to work to provide the best possible outcomes for our patients by providing the most advanced therapies available, teaching tomorrow’s leaders in lung transplantation, and studying new methods for improving transplantation.

Our experienced thoracic and transplant surgeons perform single and double lung transplants and heart-lung transplants. Conditions that may lead to lung transplants include pulmonary fibrosis and other interstitial lung diseases, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and rare lung diseases such as sarcoidosis and LAM.

Giving Our Patients Their Best Chance, Before and After Transplant

Our medical expertise and access to today’s most advanced technologies are enhanced by our dedication to providing comprehensive, compassionate, collaborative, and appropriate multidisciplinary care. We begin by doing everything possible to effectively improve lung function without a lung transplant. We carefully evaluate and work with patients to determine whether alternative treatment options could effectively manage their condition. When a lung transplant is considered to be the best solution for a patient, we work with them and their families to develop an individualized care plan and to make each step of the transplant process as comfortable as possible.

This approach has led to outstanding outcomes. In the last five years, our Program’s one-year outcomes have consistently exceeded Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) benchmarks, and our three-year survival rates routinely meet targeted thresholds. These outcomes are particularly noteworthy, as our Program is willing to take on higher-risk candidates that other programs may turn away.

Nirmal Sharma, MD

Nirmal Sharma, MD

Medical Director, Lung Transplant Program

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Raphael Bueno, MD

Raphael Bueno, MD

Chief, Thoracic Surgery

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Today there are more recipients waiting for organ transplants than there are organs available. And while the current opioid crisis has produced more available organs for transplantation, those with hepatitis C viral infection have previously been considered ineligible. With a new antiviral treatment regimen, could it be possible to transplant these organs, prevent the establishment of hepatitis C in the recipients, and produce an excellent outcome in patients? A team of infectious disease experts, transplant physicians and surgeons from the Brigham proved, with an effectiveness of 100 percent, that it is.

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