Travel burden eases for lung transplant patients

LUNG transplant patients will no longer have to travel to Britain for life-saving surgery as the first such operation will take place here within weeks.

The new heart and lung transplant clinic is based at the Mater Hospital in Dublin and will be headed by respiratory physician Dr Jim Egan. Although he is hopeful the first operation at the unit will be carried out before the end of March, Dr Egan said it was hard to pinpoint an exact date.

“It’s not a case that you can put a definite date on it; it will depend on the patient ultimately, ensuring that there is a suitable donor and recipient,” Dr Egan said recently.