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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
With 103 lung transplants and one heart-lung transplant in 2024, MHH is the leader in the Eurotransplant network. The lung transplant team relies on minimally invasive procedures and innovative approaches to provide patients with a better quality of life.
‘I've never had so much air as I do now,’ says Wencke. “It's an indescribable feeling.” The 31-year-old received a lung for the second time at the end of January 2025 after chronic rejection. This makes her one of the first seven patients to receive a lung transplant at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) at the beginning of the year.
Wencke suffers from the hereditary disease cystic fibrosis. She had already received a donor lung for the first time at the age of 19. Until now, it has been impossible for her to live alone, and despite her transplant she needed additional oxygen for years. Now she is happy about her newfound independence. She can already climb stairs and ride a bike, and after the upcoming rehabilitation she will be able to move into her own apartment for the first time.
In Germany only at MHH: lung transplants in children under six years of age
In 2020, 103 lung transplants and one heart-lung transplant were performed at MHH, twelve more than in the previous year. This makes MHH the largest centre for lung transplants in the Eurotransplant network. One combined heart-lung transplant and nine lungs were given to children and adolescents under the age of 16, accounting for 50 per cent of all transplants in children and adolescents in the Eurotransplant network.
‘In Europe, there are only three to four centres that transplant as many lungs as the MHH,’ says Prof. Dr. Fabio Ius, head of the lung transplant programme at the Clinic for Heart, Thoracic, Transplant and Vascular Surgery. ’We are the only centre that transplants a donor lung to children under six years of age.’
The MHH team usually uses a minimally invasive procedure for lung transplantation. This means that patients spend less time in the intensive care unit and have a lower risk of complications. The team at the MHH faces particular challenges. ‘We specialise in combined transplants such as lungs and liver, transplants despite tissue incompatibility between donor and recipient, and retransplants,’ says Prof. Dr. Arjang Ruhparwar, Director of the Clinic for Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery. ‘In 2024, we were also able to transplant an additional 23 hearts – making us the largest thoracic centre in Germany.’ On behalf of all employees and patients, he thanks all organ donors and their relatives.
Special expertise for 38 years
The first lung transplant at MHH took place in 1987. Since then, 2,742 patients have received a donor lung and 159 have received a combined heart-lung transplant. ‘One of our main areas of focus is the treatment of patients with pulmonary hypertension; a correspondingly large number of patients are listed with us,’ explains Prof. Dr. Marius Höper, acting head of the Department of Pneumology and Infectiology. In the past, 20 percent of transplant patients were cystic fibrosis patients like Wencke. ‘Nowadays, we can usually help this group of patients with medication, and we may only transplant for three to four patients a year – a really encouraging development.’ The MHH currently has 30 patients listed with Eurotransplant for a lung transplant, and the team provides aftercare for almost 1,100 patients who have had a lung transplant.
A free intensive care bed – including in paediatric intensive care – operating theatres, pulmonologists – including in the paediatric clinic – surgeons, anaesthetists, operating theatre, anaesthesia, intensive care and normal ward nurses, employees in the Eurotransplant liaison office and many more: a large team of resources and specialists must be available around the clock for a transplant. While the patient is on the transplant list, an offer of a donor organ can arrive at any time.
‘In 2024, the lung transplant team has once again done a great job across professional and departmental boundaries,’ emphasises MHH Nursing Director Claudia Bredthauer. She emphasised that the nursing care of transplant patients is particularly complex and demanding. ‘Our dedicated nursing staff have made a decisive contribution to this. With targeted further training in transplant care and qualifications at an academic level, we want to make the profession even more attractive.’
Eurotransplant: large pool of donors and recipients
The non-profit Eurotransplant foundation, based in Leiden in the Netherlands, organises the exchange of organs between donor hospitals and transplant centres in eight European countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. The organisation facilitates the exchange of organs such as kidneys, livers, hearts and lungs in a large donor and recipient pool.
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For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Fabio Ius, Clinic for Heart, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Ius.Fabio@mh-hannover.de.
Representative of the interprofessional lung transplantation team of doctors and nurses from (paedia ...
Copyright: medjunge/MHH
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Representative of the interprofessional lung transplantation team of doctors and nurses from (paedia ...
Copyright: medjunge/MHH
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