A surgical procedure performed to remove diseased, emphysematous lung tissue. This procedure: reduces the size of an over-inflated lung; and allows the expansion of the remaining, often more functional lung; and allows the expansion of the remaining, often more functional lung. Lung volume reduction surgery has been shown to help improve breathing ability, lung capacity and overall quality of life in selected patients.
LEVEL 1 TRAUMA CENTER
A comprehensive regional resource that is a tertiary care facility central to the trauma system. A Level 1 Trauma Center is capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury – from prevention through rehabilitation.
LAS (LUNG ALLOCATION SCORE)
A numerical value used by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to assign relative priority for distributing donated lungs for transplantation within the United States. The lung allocation score takes into account various measures of a patient’s health in order to direct donated organs towards the patients who would best benefit from a lung transplant.