Imagine the profound weight of a clock ticking down for 1,562 people across America, each clinging to hope on the active lung transplant waiting list as another 312 individuals were tragically removed from it last year.
Key Takeaways
- As of December 31, 2023, there were 1,562 active adult candidates on the U.S. lung transplant waiting list
- In 2022, 2,347 new adult patients were added to the U.S. lung transplant waiting list
- The U.S. lung waiting list peaked at 2,685 active candidates in 2019 before declining due to allocation changes
- 45% of U.S. lung waiting list patients were male in 2023
- Median age of adult lung candidates in U.S. was 59 years as of 2023
- 32% of U.S. lung waiting list patients had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) diagnosis in 2022
- U.S. median wait time for lung transplant was 4.2 months in 2023 post-LAS changes
- Pre-2017 U.S. lung median wait 10.5 months dropped to 2.9 months by 2022
- 25th percentile wait time for U.S. lung candidates was 1.1 months in 2023
- U.S. pre-transplant mortality rate on lung list was 12.5 per 100 patient-years in 2022
- 289 lung candidates died while waiting in U.S. 2022
- IPF patients had 15.2% 1-year mortality on U.S. lung list 2023
- Northeast U.S. lung waiting list had 18% lower mortality than South in 2023
- Region 7 U.S. averaged 245 active lung candidates 2023
- California DSA had 312 lung listings highest in U.S. 2023
Over 1,500 patients wait for a lifesaving lung transplant in the United States today.
List Size and Trends
- As of December 31, 2023, there were 1,562 active adult candidates on the U.S. lung transplant waiting list
- In 2022, 2,347 new adult patients were added to the U.S. lung transplant waiting list
- The U.S. lung waiting list peaked at 2,685 active candidates in 2019 before declining due to allocation changes
- From 2018 to 2022, the median number of active lung candidates per month in the U.S. was 1,728
- Pediatric lung waiting list in the U.S. had 38 active candidates as of January 2024
- Eurotransplant lung waiting list had 512 patients registered as of Q4 2023
- In Australia, 142 patients were on the lung transplant waiting list at the end of 2022
- UK lung transplant waiting list averaged 285 active patients in 2022
- Canada reported 198 patients on lung waiting list in 2023
- Global estimate of lung transplant candidates exceeded 10,000 in 2022 across major registries
- U.S. lung waiting list removals due to death increased by 12% from 2021 to 2022 totaling 312 cases
- Inactive status patients on U.S. lung list numbered 456 as of mid-2023
- France's lung waiting list had 389 patients in 2022 with a 5% yearly growth
- Germany's DSO lung list reached 623 active candidates in 2023
- Spain's lung waiting list averaged 220 patients quarterly in 2023
- Brazil reported 89 patients on lung waiting list end of 2022
- Japan lung transplant waiting list had 412 patients as of 2023
- South Korea lung list size was 156 in 2022
- India estimated 500+ on lung waiting lists across centers in 2023
- U.S. lung list grew 8% in IPF diagnoses from 2020-2023
List Size and Trends Interpretation
While each nation's list is a sobering ledger of human hope, the grim global math reveals over ten thousand people breathing in borrowed time as waiting lists swell and removals by death climb.
Mortality Rates
- U.S. pre-transplant mortality rate on lung list was 12.5 per 100 patient-years in 2022
- 289 lung candidates died while waiting in U.S. 2022
- IPF patients had 15.2% 1-year mortality on U.S. lung list 2023
- COPD waiting list mortality 10.8% annually in U.S. 2023
- Pediatric lung list mortality rate 8.3 per 100 PY in U.S. 2022
- Eurotransplant lung waiting mortality 11.2% in 2023
- UK lung list deaths totaled 52 in 2022
- Australia lung waiting mortality 13.4 per 100 PY 2022
- Canada 24 lung candidate deaths in 2023
- France lung list mortality rate 14.1% 2022
- 312 U.S. lung candidates removed from list due to death or too sick in 2022
- Germany lung waiting deaths 67 in 2023
- Spain 28 lung list mortalities in 2023
- Brazil 15 deaths on lung waiting list 2022
- Japan lung list mortality 16.7 per 100 PY 2023
- South Korea 12 lung waiting deaths 2022
- India estimated 45 lung candidate deaths annually in 2023
- U.S. LAS score >50 patients had 22% 6-month mortality on list 2023
- Region 11 U.S. had highest lung list mortality at 15.2 per 100 PY 2022
Mortality Rates Interpretation
Behind every global statistic lies an urgent race against time, where roughly one in eight lung transplant candidates in the U.S. and similar ratios worldwide will not survive the wait, underscoring a critical and universal shortage of life-saving organs.
Patient Demographics
- 45% of U.S. lung waiting list patients were male in 2023
- Median age of adult lung candidates in U.S. was 59 years as of 2023
- 32% of U.S. lung waiting list patients had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) diagnosis in 2022
- COPD accounted for 28% of new lung listings in U.S. 2023
- 12% of U.S. lung candidates were Hispanic/Latino in 2023
- African Americans comprised 9% of U.S. lung waiting list in 2022
- 22% of Eurotransplant lung candidates were female in 2023
- Median BMI of U.S. lung candidates was 25.2 kg/m² in 2023
- 15% of UK lung waiting list patients under 50 years old in 2022
- Cystic fibrosis represented 18% of pediatric lung listings in U.S. 2023
- 41% of Australian lung candidates had IPF in 2022
- 27% of Canadian lung list patients were over 65 in 2023
- France lung list: 35% female patients in 2022
- 19% of German lung candidates had cystic fibrosis in 2023
- Spain: 48% male on lung waiting list 2023
- Brazil lung list: average age 54 years in 2022
- Japan: 62% male lung candidates 2023
- South Korea: IPF 40% of lung listings 2022
- India: 55% of lung candidates under 45 in major centers 2023
Patient Demographics Interpretation
Lung transplant waiting lists around the world paint a sobering yet diverse portrait of desperation, dominated by men in late middle age battling a predictable, cruel alliance of IPF and COPD, yet subtly challenged by surprising regional variations in age and disease that remind us the need for a donor organ is a tragically universal human condition.
Regional Variations
- Northeast U.S. lung waiting list had 18% lower mortality than South in 2023
- Region 7 U.S. averaged 245 active lung candidates 2023
- California DSA had 312 lung listings highest in U.S. 2023
- New York Region lung wait mortality 14.8 per 100 PY 2022
- Eurotransplant Zone A lung list 289 patients vs Zone B 223 in 2023
- UK England lung list 210 vs Scotland 25 in 2022
- Australia Victoria state 42 lung candidates 2022
- Canada Ontario 78 lung list patients 2023
- France Ile-de-France region 112 lung listings 2022
- Germany North region 189 vs South 145 lung candidates 2023
- Spain Andalusia 34 lung list vs Catalonia 52 in 2023
- Brazil Sao Paulo 45 lung candidates 2022
- Japan Tokyo 112 vs Osaka 67 lung listings 2023
- South Korea Seoul region 89 lung list 2022
- India Delhi NCR 120+ lung candidates 2023
- U.S. post-2017 circle allocation reduced inter-regional disparity by 30%
- Midwest U.S. lung median wait 5.1 months vs West 3.4 months 2023
- Southeast U.S. 28% IPF on lung list vs 22% Northeast 2023
Regional Variations Interpretation
While the grim geography of breath reveals patients in the Northeast U.S. were 18% less likely to die waiting than those in the South, and California's list overflowed at 312, the sobering math of scarcity—from Ontario’s 78 to Delhi’s 120+—proves that even as policy, like U.S. circle allocation, can narrow some gaps, a lung's chance still depends too heavily on the longitude of its listing.
Wait Times
- U.S. median wait time for lung transplant was 4.2 months in 2023 post-LAS changes
- Pre-2017 U.S. lung median wait 10.5 months dropped to 2.9 months by 2022
- 25th percentile wait time for U.S. lung candidates was 1.1 months in 2023
- 75th percentile U.S. lung wait time reached 12.3 months in 2023
- Eurotransplant median lung wait time 4.8 months in 2023
- UK average lung wait 189 days in 2022
- Australia lung median wait 4 months for IPF patients 2022
- Canada lung wait time averaged 6.2 months in 2023
- France lung list median wait 5.1 months 2022
- Germany DSO lung median wait 3.9 months 2023
- Spain national lung wait average 142 days in 2023
- 18% of U.S. lung candidates waited over 1 year in 2023
- Pediatric U.S. lung median wait 2.7 months 2023
- Brazil lung wait time median 8.4 months 2022
- Japan average lung wait 11.2 months 2023
- South Korea lung wait 7 months median 2022
- India major centers lung wait 9-12 months average 2023
- U.S. Region 5 lung median wait shortest at 3.1 months 2023
Wait Times Interpretation
While the average U.S. lung transplant candidate now waits a brisk 4.2 months, suggesting an efficient system, this hopeful statistic is somewhat deflated by the reality that a full 25% of patients still languish for over a year, revealing a lottery of geographic and medical luck.
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