Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people. In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals, or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.
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Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota
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Mayo Clinic is one of the leading medical facilities in the country for the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases. Its lung transplant doctors and surgeons use proven innovations to successfully treat people with serious lung diseases. And Mayo Clinic is among the few medical institutions that offer the full spectrum of options for lung transplantation, including heart-lung transplantation.
People with very challenging health situations turn to Mayo Clinic's team because of its expertise with all lung diseases, multiorgan transplants, lung restoration and supportive therapies.
Mayo Clinic's experts focus on your needs, bringing to your situation the strength of their:
- Experience. Mayo Clinic's lung transplant specialists have expertise in comprehensive treatment of people with serious lung diseases. This team of experts is committed to helping potential lung transplant recipients, many with multiple medical problems who need complex operations — such as heart-lung or double-lung transplants.
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Teamwork. Your care is provided by a multidisciplinary team of specialists in pulmonology, transplant, chest surgery (thoracic surgery), nursing, immunology, social work, respiratory therapy, pharmacy, dietary, infectious diseases and other areas. Together, you and your team will talk about a full range of treatment options and develop a plan to provide exactly the care you need.
The Transplant Center teams at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Florida and Minnesota share the same high standards and a commitment to individualized care. They work together to evaluate and treat people who may need a lung transplant. So you could be evaluated at one location and undergo surgery at another, if it's in your best interest.
- New techniques and technologies. Mayo Clinic is developing lung restoration capabilities. At a lung restoration center on Mayo Clinic's Florida campus, biotechnologists are performing perfusion procedures to make lungs acceptable for transplantation. This will increase the number of organs available to people waiting for a donor organ. Work at the lung restoration center supports and extends Mayo's regenerative medicine program.
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Innovative research. Mayo Clinic scientists and doctors are committed to expanding and sharing knowledge that makes transplants safer and improves patients' lives. For example, Mayo Clinic researchers explore the use of stem cell therapy in patients whose immune system rejects a transplant lung. In the future, Mayo Clinic may use regenerative cell therapy to repair donor lungs, making even more lungs available to people on donor waiting lists.
At Mayo Clinic, you may have access to ongoing clinical trials and new treatments.
The lung transplant team performs lung transplants at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Florida and Minnesota. As a three-site institution, Mayo Clinic performs more than 75 lung transplants a year, many of them requiring specialized solutions and surgeries.
Services
Mayo Clinic lung doctors and surgeons work with a multidisciplinary team to determine the most appropriate treatment for you. They have expertise in treating people in many areas of lung transplantation, including those listed below. Not all services are available at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Florida and Minnesota. Please confirm when you call for an appointment.
In addition, you will have access to therapies to help people manage their conditions while waiting for transplants, and other therapies after transplant to help ensure better outcomes:
- Bronchoscopy
- Coronary angiography
- Integrative medicine
- Lung volume reduction surgery
- Nutrition
- Palliative care
- Patient education
- Psychiatry and psychology
- Pulmonary function testing
- Rehabilitation
- Respiratory therapy
- Tobacco cessation treatment
Mayo Clinic lung transplant doctors and surgeons are experts in treating lung disease. You may come to Mayo Clinic on your own or with a referral from your doctor. Lung transplant specialists work with a team of doctors and specialists in other areas to determine the most appropriate treatment option for you.
Mayo Clinic provides services for lung disease caused by many conditions, including but not limited to those listed below. Availability of the services may vary among Mayo Clinic locations. Please confirm when you call to request an appointment.
Find conditions treated by this department:
Mayo Clinic has one of the largest and most experienced practices in the United States, with campuses in Florida and Minnesota. Specialists from many areas work together to provide quality care and ensure successful recoveries.
Find doctors and medical staff:
Florida doctors by specialty
Lung transplant specialists
Lung transplant surgeons
Minnesota doctors by specialty
Heart and lung transplant specialists
Heart and lung transplant surgeons
Mayo Clinic doctors and surgeons have diagnosed and treated thousands of people who have lung disease. The Mayo Clinic Lung Transplant Program has expert teams at Mayo's campuses in Florida and Minnesota. The Minnesota program was established in 1990, Florida's in 2001.
People with challenging health situations come to Mayo Clinic for help because our doctors and surgeons are experts in specialized lung transplant techniques, including:
Mayo Clinic lung transplant outcomes compare favorably with the national average.
Learn more about Mayo Clinic's quality rankings.
The Village at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, offers low-cost housing for transplant patients and their caregivers.
The Gabriel House of Care in Jacksonville, Florida, offers low-cost housing for transplant patients and their caregivers.
The Gift of Life Transplant House in Rochester, Minnesota, offers low-cost housing for transplant patients and their caregivers.
Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.
For more information on visiting Mayo Clinic, choose your location below:
Mayo Clinic scientists, doctors and surgeons develop lung transplant insights and innovations that make transplants safer and available to more people. They conduct laboratory studies, clinical trials and other research on many aspects of lung transplantation, such as:
- Improving outcomes. Mayo Clinic researchers study how frail people fair after transplant. The results could lead to interventions before surgery to improve patients' survival and outcomes. Researchers also studied how, for some people, losing weight before lung transplant surgery can reduce the risk of death and complications.
- Making more donor lungs usable. Mayo Clinic is part of a multicenter trial of ex vivo lung perfusion, a process that reconditions donor lungs that previously would've been considered too damaged to use. This technique makes more lungs available to the people on the donor waiting list. Mayo Clinics has completed five lung transplants during this trial.
- Cell therapies for lung disease. Mayo Clinic researchers study potential ways of using stem cell therapy, or regenerative medicine, to treat many lung conditions. Researchers study many areas of lung regeneration, including studying how reprogrammed stem cells can be turned into specialized cells that can replace, repair or regenerate diseased lung cells.
Mayo Clinic's researchers often collaborate with colleagues throughout the United States and internationally who are committed to improving outcomes and care for people with lung diseases.
You may have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials. Read more about the many lung transplant research studies supported by the Transplant Research Center.
Lung subspecialty laboratories
Publications
See a list of publications by Mayo Clinic authors on lung transplantation on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.
Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care like they've never experienced. See the stories of Mayo Clinic transplant patients.
Lung transplant costs and insurance information
Mayo Clinic has dedicated transplant financial services representatives and social workers who can assist you with insurance and financial questions regarding your transplant.
Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people. In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. Many insurance companies require you to get preapproval authorization before receiving transplant services.
Insurance information
Before your transplant, it's important that you work closely with your insurance company to understand your benefit plan. You'll be responsible for any of your transplant and medical care costs not covered by your insurance company.
You may want to ask your insurance company several questions about your transplant expenses, such as:
- What is the specific coverage of my plan? What are my deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, lifetime maximum amount, and annual maximum amounts for both medical care and transplant services?
- Does my plan have a pre-existing or waiting period clause? If so, what is the time frame? Can this be waived?
- Does my plan include pharmacy coverage? If so, will my plan cover my current medications and immunosuppressant medications?
- Does my plan require any special approvals for evaluation or transplant? How long does the approval process take once submitted to insurance?
- Does my plan cover my transportation and lodging expenses during my transplant care?
- Does my insurance require enrollment in Medicare when I become eligible?
- Does my insurance follow Medicare Coordination of Benefits Guidelines?
- How will my coverage change after I enroll in Medicare? Will my plan become a supplemental or secondary plan?
If your plan is a Medicare supplement, ask questions such as:
- Does my plan follow Medicare guidelines?
- Does my plan cover Medicare Part A and Part B deductible and coinsurance?
- Does my plan have a pre-existing or waiting period clause? If so, what is the time frame?
- Does my plan offer an option for Medicare Part D coverage?
Other expenses
Please plan for other expenses that may occur related to your transplant. These may include, for example, follow-up medical appointments, long-term medications, caregiver expenses, travel, parking and lodging.
For international patients
Mayo Clinic has dedicated international patient account representatives who can assist you with questions regarding your costs and insurance. Read more about international financial services.
Case managers
Mayo Clinic financial staff will work closely with your case managers from your insurance company. Your case manager, who is assigned to you, is available to answer questions and calls related to your insurance costs.
Mayo Clinic doctors' experience and integrated team approach result in transplant outcomes that compare favorably with national averages. Teams work with transplant recipients before, during and after surgery to ensure the greatest likelihood of superior results.
Volumes and statistics are maintained separately for the two Mayo Clinic locations. Taken together or separately, transplant patients at Mayo Clinic enjoy excellent results.
Volumes
Florida
The lung transplant program at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida has become one of the largest in the Southeast. More than 750 lung transplants have been performed since the program began in 2001.
Minnesota
Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota has performed more than 400 lung transplants since the program began in 1990, including 38 heart-lung transplants. Mayo Clinic's outcomes with lung transplantation compare favorably with nationally reported survival rates.
Outcomes
Each of the links below connects to an external site, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, which provides many metrics gathered from transplant programs across the United States.
Lung Transplant — Adult
Heart/Lung Transplant — Adult
People with serious lung diseases who meet certain criteria of lung function are most appropriately treated with a lung transplant. The traditional age limit for lung transplantation is 65 years. At Mayo Clinic, however, we will evaluate individuals older than 65 who do not have significant disease processes besides their lung diseases.
People who need a lung transplant may have any of several serious lung diseases, including:
Besides lung transplant, Mayo Clinic specialists offer other treatment options for lung conditions and individualize the treatment to each person's needs.
Your transplant team will evaluate you to determine whether a lung transplant may be safe and beneficial for you. Your comprehensive evaluation will include lung function tests, blood tests, imaging scans and other tests. Doctors will check you for other serious conditions, including chronic infections, cancer, and heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease.
Most people who undergo formal evaluation at Mayo Clinic, which may take several days, are eligible for transplant. Your doctors and transplant team will work with you to promote wellness, lower your risks and improve your outcome after transplant. A care team member will talk with you about the importance of taking your anti-rejection (immunosuppressant) medications to keep your body from rejecting your lung.
Mayo Clinic doctors have experience treating people with coronary artery disease and other complex conditions with lung transplants or other treatment options. Doctors trained in lung and breathing conditions (pulmonologists) work closely with doctors trained in heart and blood vessel conditions (cardiologists), heart and blood vessel surgery (cardiac surgeons), and other areas to determine the most appropriate treatment for you.
In the past, most people with coronary artery disease weren't considered candidates for a lung transplant. Now, some people with coronary artery disease may be eligible for a single-lung transplant, a double-lung transplant, a heart-lung transplant or another procedure.
Your doctor will use cardiac catheterization to evaluate the severity of your heart condition and determine if you're eligible for a lung transplant. In this procedure, your doctor inserts a long, thin tube (catheter) into an artery in your leg or groin and guides it to your heart using X-ray imaging. He or she then injects a special dye through the catheter, making the arteries visible under X-ray (coronary angiography).
Depending on your condition, your doctor may conduct procedures to open blocked or narrowed arteries, including coronary bypass surgery or coronary angioplasty and stents. These procedures may be performed before or during lung transplant surgery.
Doctors continue to study outcomes of people with coronary artery disease who have had lung transplants, to determine the most appropriate treatment for them.
Mayo Clinic doctors offer many therapies to help people manage their lung conditions while waiting for lung transplants. You may wait months to years for a lung transplant. Your lung condition may worsen over time, but doctors will work with you to support your lung function.
One procedure that may help ease your breathing as you wait is tracheostomy. Your doctor makes a small hole in your throat and into your windpipe (trachea) and inserts a breathing tube into the trachea. A machine that helps support your breathing (a mechanical ventilator) may be connected to the breathing tube.
If you have a lung transplant or other treatment and you don't need the tracheostomy any longer, your breathing tube will be removed. The hole in your neck usually closes on its own, but doctors sometimes may need to perform surgery to close the hole.
Staff also will work with you in pulmonary rehabilitation to help improve your breathing in daily life activities while you wait for a transplant. The program may help you improve your endurance, strength and flexibility.
You'll also be given lifestyle recommendations, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco. You may have medications to help manage your lung condition until you have a lung transplant.