St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital Celebrates Lung Transplant Milestone
St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital (SLEH) recently celebrated its 20th lung transplant since re-activating its lung transplant program in February 2012 under the leadership of Hari Mallidi, MD, surgical director, Lung and Heart-lung Transplant programs, and Ramachandra R. Sista, MD, medical director, Lung and Heart-lung Transplant programs.
The milestone transplant was performed by Dr. Mallidi, who has been involved in all 20 procedures -16 lung transplants and four heart/lung transplants. SLEH’s lung transplant survival rate is one of the highest in the nation, with a one-year adult patient survival rate of 95 percent compared to the national expected survival rate of 83.82 percent.*
According to Dr. Mallidi, lung transplants may be recommended for patients with severe end-stage lung disease caused by emphysema, cystic fibrosis or chronic diseases, such as sarcoidosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (permanent scarring and thickening of lung tissue) and pulmonary hypertension.
