Lung and Combined Heart-Lung Transplant Treatment

When you bring your child to us for lung or combined heart-lung transplant evaluation, we use our extensive experience and resources to assess your child’s complex medical condition and offer recommendations for improving their health. We consider alternative treatments if transplantation is not recommended. Our goal is to provide your child with their best chance at a better quality of life before and after transplant.

Our approach to pediatric lung and combined heart-lung transplant

Before proceeding with transplant for your child, we make sure we have exhausted all other treatment options. If transplant is necessary, we make your child’s care and recovery journey as seamless as possible.

We are committed to caring for all aspects of your child’s health while they are being evaluated for transplant and while they are on the transplant waiting list. These are some of the many specialized aspects of care we focus on:

  • Optimizing medications to keep your child as stable as possible, for as long as possible.
  • Mechanical circulatory support for the heart and lungs, when needed.
  • Reverse Potts shunt surgery for advanced pulmonary hypertension as a possible bridge to transplant.
  • Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for lifesaving measures.
  • Physical therapy to maintain or improve your child’s overall strength.
  • Nutritional plans to optimize your child’s health for transplantation.

After transplant surgery, our multidisciplinary team provides comprehensive care to your child to support them every step of the way during their recovery, both in and out of the hospital.

Our specialty partner programs

At Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, our collaborative care ensures that every child has access to groundbreaking, expert care. Our Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program works closely with the following specialized programs within our health care system:

  • Center for Advanced Lung (CEAL) Therapies—The only program of its kind in the Western United States offering a multidisciplinary team of specialists who treat children with late-stage lung disease or advanced pulmonary hypertension. Our CEAL program offers the reverse Potts shunt procedure to those patients who qualify, as well as other therapies and procedures that can serve as a bridge to transplantation or delay their need for transplantation.
  • Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program—Our Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program is composed of an expert team of internationally recognized individuals dedicated to providing your child with the highest quality care available and the best chance at exceptional outcomes.
  • Pulmonary Artery Reconstruction Program (PAR)—Stanford Children’s is the No. 1 place in the world for pulmonary artery reconstruction. We partner with this exceptional team to provide revolutionary, life-saving surgeries for a variety of conditions, such as tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia, major aortopulmonary collateral arteries—MAPCAs (extra arteries in the lungs), pulmonary artery stenosis, and more.
  • Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies (PACT) Program—Stanford Children’s Health’s world-class heart failure and heart transplantation program is a strong partner of our Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program.
  • Cystic Fibrosis (CF) program—We work closely with a team of dedicated pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, ENTs, and endocrinologists to expertly manage this complex disease. The Stanford Cystic Fibrosis program is one of 20 in the nation. Stanford Children’s plays a nationally recognized instrumental role in advancing care for cystic fibrosis, known for our expertise in clinical trials for cystic fibrosis and developing new therapies.

Our collaborative approach allows us to develop a tailored, whole-child care plan for your child, helping us provide the highest quality care available for your child and the best chance at exceptional outcomes.