Lung transplantation is a surgical procedure in which a patient's diseased lungs are partially or totally replaced by lungs which come from a donor. While lung transplants carry certain associated risks, they can also extend life expectancy and enhance the quality of life for end-stage pulmonary patients. Lung transplantation is the therapeutic measure of last resort for patients with end-stage lung disease who have exhausted all other available treatments without improvement.

A variety of conditions may make such surgery necessary. As of 2005, the most common reasons for lung transplantation in the United States were: Despite the severity of a patient's respiratory condition, certain preexisting conditions may make a person a poor candidate for lung transplantation. These conditions include: The history of organ transplants began with several attempts that were unsuccessful due to transplant rejection.

Animal experimentation by various pioneers, including Vladimir Demikhov and Dominique Metras, during the 1940s and 1950s, first demonstrated that the procedure was technically feasible. James Hardy of the University of Mississippi performed the first human lung transplant in 1963. Following a left lung transplantation, the patient survived for 18 days.

From 1963-1978, multiple attempts at lung transplantation failed because of rejection and problems with anastomotic bronchial healing. It was only after the invention of the heart-lung machine, coupled with the development of immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporine, that organs such as the lungs could be transplanted with a reasonable chance of patient recovery.

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