Asan Medical Center has performed a total of 300 lung transplant surgeries for patients with end stage lung failure who could not breathe without mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal life support, giving them what many describe as a miracle like new lease on life.

 

The Lung Transplantation Team at the Asan Medical Center Organ Transplantation Center reached its 300th lung transplantation milestone last month with the successful transplantation of lungs from a brain dead donor into Mr Han, a 64-year-old man who had been struggling to breathe due to interstitial lung disease that had caused his lungs to become severely stiff. Following the surgery which was performed on Friday the 21st, Mr Han underwent intensive postoperative care and specialized respiratory rehabilitation and is currently recovering steadily.

 

The Asan Medical Center Lung Transplantation Team began its program in 2008 with a lung transplantation from a brain dead donor for a patient with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In 2017, the team achieved Korea’s first successful living donor lung transplantation. To date, the Asan Medical Center has performed 299 lung transplants from brain dead donors and one living donor lung transplant. Since 2019, Asan Medical Center has carried out more than 30 lung transplantation surgeries annually on average.

 

More noteworthy than the number of surgeries is the post-transplantation survival rate. The survival outcomes achieved by the Asan Medical Center Lung Transplantation Team rank among the best in the world. Although approximately 66 percent of the 300 lung transplantation recipients were critically ill patients who required prolonged support with mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, post-transplantation survival rates remained exceptionally high, at 76.5 percent at one year, 67.9 percent at three years, 64.2 percent at five years, and 60.5 percent at seven years.

 

When compared with the survival outcomes reported by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) (which aggregates data from leading lung transplant centers worldwide and reports survival rates of 85 percent at one year, 67 percent at three years, and 61 percent at five years), Asan Medical Center demonstrates superior long term survival beyond five years. This is particularly notable given the exceptionally high severity of illness among its lung transplant patients.

 

According to data compiled in 2024 by the Korean Network for Organ Sharing (KONOS), the nationwide survival rates for lung transplant centers in Korea were 68.7 percent at one year, 56.2 percent at three years, 49.6 percent at five years, and 43.8 percent at seven years. Compared with these figures, Asan Medical Center’s outcomes remain markedly superior.

 

Unlike the heart, liver, or kidneys, lungs are far less frequently donated by brain dead donors, resulting in long waiting times for transplantation. In addition, because the lungs are continuously exposed to outside air during breathing, the risk of infection is high. Severe rejection reactions further limit outcomes, making post transplantation survival rates generally lower than those of other solid organ transplantations.

 

Despite these challenges, the Asan Medical Center Lung Transplantation Team has achieved world class post transplantation survival rates through a highly integrated multidisciplinary system. In addition to the accumulated surgical expertise of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, a comprehensive team centered on lung transplant patients brings together specialists from the Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, the Division of Infectious Diseases, the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Department of Psychiatry, the Organ Transplantation Center, the Director for Intensive Care Unit, and general wards. Working as a single coordinated team, they provide intensive, patient focused critical care throughout the transplant process.

 

After lung transplantation, patients must take immunosuppressive medications continuously to prevent rejection and various complications. The Asan Medical Center Lung Transplantation Team carefully monitors and adjusts each patient’s immunosuppressive therapy while providing structured respiratory rehabilitation, thereby supporting long term survival and ensuring a high quality of life for transplant recipients.

 

Among the 300 lung transplantation recipients, men accounted for a significantly larger proportion, with 192 patients, or 64 percent, compared with 108 women, or 36 percent. By age group, patients in their 60s were the largest cohort with 103 cases, followed by those in their 50s with 79, 40s with 38, 30s with 28, 20s with 13, teenagers with 24, and children under the age of 10 with 14 cases.

 

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which the lungs become progressively stiff and lose function, and can ultimately be fatal, was the most common underlying disease among lung transplant recipients. Other indications included bronchiolitis obliterans, acute respiratory distress syndrome, interstitial lung disease, severe pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. The cohort also included 13 patients who suffered severe lung damage as a result of adverse effects linked to humidifier disinfectants.

 

In 2017, the Asan Medical Center Lung Transplantation Team achieved Korea’s first successful living donor lung transplantation. A patient in his 20s with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, whose heart was at constant risk of failure, regained health after receiving partial lung grafts from his parents. The success of this procedure led to a revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Organ Transplantation, enabling lung transplantation from healthy living donors.

 

▲Professors Sehoon Choi and Geun Dong Lee of the Lung Transplantation Team at the Asan Medical Center Organ Transplantation Center, shown second and third from the left, are performing the 300th lung transplantation surgery on Friday the 21st of last month.

 

Professor Sehoon Choi of the Lung Transplantation Team at Asan Medical Center Organ Transplantation Center and the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, who performed the 300th lung transplant, said, “In the past, survival rates after lung transplantation were lower than those for other organs. However, at Asan Medical Center today, three out of five lung transplant patients survive for more than five years. Surgical outcomes have improved dramatically, surpassing the survival rates reported by leading lung transplant centers around the world.”

 

President Seung-Il Park of Asan Medical Center and Professor of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, stated, “The achievement of 300 lung transplantations at Asan Medical Center is founded on the unified teamwork of our lung transplantation team. Moving forward, we will continue to build on the team’s extensive surgical experience and our multidisciplinary, intensive care based management system to offer a new lease on life to more patients with end stage lung failure.”

 

Mr Han, the 300th lung transplantation patient at Asan Medical Center, shared, “Thanks to the dedicated care of the lung transplantation team at Asan Medical Center, my family has been given the precious gift of more time together. I am deeply grateful.”