PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Martin lversen
TI  - Immunosuppression for the non-transplant physician: what should you know?
AID  - 10.1183/20724735.042112
DP  - 2013 Mar 01
TA  - Breathe
PG  - 202--208
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
4099  - http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/9/3/202.short
4100  - http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/9/3/202.full
SO  - breathe2013 Mar 01; 9
AB  - Summary Immunosuppression is considered a difficult topic. In general, pulmonologists are experienced with anti-inflammatory treatment in the form of steroids and immunosuppressive treatment with moderate doses of methotrexate or azathioprine; some specialists treating patients with interstitial lung disease have experience with more immunosuppression and a larger number of drugs. Life-long intensive immunosuppression, as in lung transplant recipients, is a task for the specialist, but with more than 3,500 lung transplantations in the world annually (figure from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation; www.ISHLT.org) many non-transplant pulmonologists will encounter lung transplant recipients, and will need some basic knowledge about immunosuppression. Also, an increasing number of patients with interstitial lung disease are treated with high-intensity immunosuppressive treatment. This review is intended to be an introduction on general immunosuppression in patients with lung disease and lung transplant recipients. For a more comprehensive review the reader is advised to consult one or more of the large reviews published in recent years [1–4] or consult the Lung Transplantation issue of the European Respiratory Monograph (Issue 45; 2009) where a lot of background information on lung transplantation can be found.