Role of Primary Care Provider in the Referral and Care of Thoracic Organ Transplant Patients

Thoracic (heart and/or lung) transplantation has evolved into life-saving treatment with improved quality of life for patients with end-stage heart or respiratory failure unresponsive to other medical or surgical treatments. With improving 1-, 5- and 10-year survival rates, there are increasing numbers of transplant recipients with existing and immunosuppression-related de-novo co-morbidities that require attention. Partnership between transplant and non-transplant physicians is required to provide comprehensive care for the transplant candidates for timely referral, evaluation, optimization of co-morbidities and preparation for transplantation; and for the recipients for management of common medical co-morbidities, immunization, screening for malignancy, and counseling for healthy lifestyle. This chapter aims to provide an outline of the most important aspects of care of heart or lung transplant candidates or recipients by non-transplant physicians.