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TUESDAY, June 1 (HealthDayNews) -- Lung
transplants increase survival for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) by
an average of nearly 4.5
years, says a U.S. study.
"Initially, the risks from lung
transplantation for cystic fibrosis patients are quite high, but the
risk drops over time, and it becomes worth the risk in the long run,"
study co-author Dr. Roger D. Yusen, an assistant professor of medicine
in the divisions of pulmonary and critical care medicine and general
medical sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis, said in a prepared statement.
He added CF patients who have lung
transplants must have a double lung transplant for the surgery to be
effective in
treating their disease.
The study included 247 people with CF on a
waiting list for lung transplantation.
After a year, 84 percent of the patients
waiting for a transplant were still alive and an equal percentage of
those who had undergone lung transplantation were also still alive.
After two years, 76 percent of those who had a transplant were alive,
compared with 67 percent waiting for a transplant. After five years, 55
percent of transplant patients were still alive.
The study was presented recently at the
American Thoracic Society International Conference.
"Next, we hope to see if transplanted
patients are not only living longer, but enjoying a better quality of
life than those who remain on the waiting list," Yusen said.
People with CF, who live an average of 33
years, develop severe lung disease with a combination of airway
obstruction, inflammation and infection. CF is the most common, lethal
genetic disease in whites. It also affects other races and ethnic
groups.
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