Her mom was on FNC this morning. She said giving her daughter an adult lung is a more complicated procedure. It has to be reduced to 40% of it’s size.
It isn’t just because of her age. An adult lung would be too large. She needs a child’s lung. That seems to be lost in the emotional response to this unfortunate child.
Thanks for info re reducing size of adult lung. I wondered whether there might, in fact, be a reasonable medical reason to not transplant patients under 12. Would a lung from a dying child or pre-teen be suitable for an adult?
I’d hate to be the person calling these difficult shots.
Given this information, the age restriction is actually reasonable. There are adults who need the lungs, as well as children, so donor lungs won’t go to waste. But if they trim it, it might fail - and she may need a new one when grown up, demanding two sets of organs that would otherwise save two lives.