Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Five thousand, two hundred and eight lung transplants were performed worldwide before April, 1996. This review will discuss lung transplantation from an historical perspective, its indications, donor and recipient selection criteria, donor lung preparation, surgical considerations, perioperative anaesthetic management, and associated morbidity and mortality. ⋯ Lung transplantation improves the quality of life with marginal improvement in life expectancy of the recipients. It is an expensive procedure requiring continued resources for long term management of these patients.