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Dr. Bremner explains a patient's risk for infections and rejections associated with lung transplants.
Dr. Bremner:
So, one of the problems we have after doing a lung transplant is balancing the immunosuppression of a patient so that there is no rejection, versus too much immunosuppression so that the patient becomes susceptible to infection, and it’s a difficult process and we have dedicated transplant pulmonologists that follow the patients for the rest of their lives.
And these patients are in very close contact with our pulmonologists and our transplant coordinators, so at the first sign of a problem, they can come in and then we can stamp it out before it becomes a real issue, but the reality is that, episodes of rejection and episodes of infection are part of what is expected in the long-term process after transplantation.
Dr. Bremner, M.D., Ph.D.:
Ross M. Bremner, M.D., Ph.D., is surgical director of the Center for Thoracic Disease and chief of thoracic surgery at the Heart & Lung Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Bremner completed his medical school training in South Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand where he graduated magna cum laude and received the Harwood Nash Memorial medal for surgery. He then completed his general surgery training at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, during which time he also completed his Ph.D. Dr. Bremner then went on to complete his cardiothoracic training at USC after which he joined the faculty as assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the Hastings Thoracic Oncology Laboratory.