• T Fuehner, T Welte, and J Gottlieb.
• Klinik für Pneumologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, Hannover, Germany. fuehner.thomas@mh-hannover.de
• Internist (Berl). 2012 May 1;53(5):567-74.

AbstractSince the early days of lung transplantation the demand for donor organs has outstripped donor organ availability. Consequently waiting times continue to increase with patients of highest priority often waiting several weeks or even months until a suitable donor organ becomes available resulting in considerable mortality on the waiting list. These issues have led to renewed interest in bridging strategies for patients with end-stage lung disease. The use of endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation (MV) has been viewed as a last resort as the majority of intubated patients fail to reach transplantation and those who do tend to have a poor postoperative outcome. New bridging strategies with awake extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) seem to be hopeful alternatives in some patients. In the early intensive care unit (ICU) phase primary graft dysfunction, acute rejection, infections and surgical complications are common problems. Later, rejection, infection and sepsis, special airway complications and pulmonary bleeding may be reasons for ICU treatment.

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