To a record number of transplants of lungs

Photo archives Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
The Centre hospitalier de l’université de Montréal (CHUM).

QMI agency

Monday, December 11, 2017 20:36

UPDATE
Monday, December 11, 2017 20:36

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MONTREAL | CHUM, the only hospital to perform transplants of lungs in Quebec, could match or even beat a record set two years ago.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 50 transplants of lungs were performed at the hospital center, is very close to the 56 completed in 2015.

The number of grafts increase is explained thanks to the awareness-raising campaigns encouraging canadians to sign their health insurance card to consent to organ donation. To this day, some 4 million Quebecers have signified their willingness to donate their organs upon their death.

However, this is only 25 % of lungs from potential donors who are selected on the basis of medical considerations.

A pulmonologist at the CHUM honored

The pulmonologist in charge of the team specializing in transplant of the lungs, Dr. Charles Poirier, was honored Monday by Transplant Québec. It is part of the program since its founding 20 years ago.

Dr. Poirier also seeks to advance science by working to prevent releases after the interventions.

“We still have obstacles that we must overcome as chronic rejection. It is a scarring of the lungs that occurs with time and there are several potential mechanisms that it is currently processing, but it has not yet found the miracle drug,” he explained.

Dr. Poirier has stated that 50 % of patients with chronic rejection will die within two years following a transplant of lungs.