RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Immunosuppression for the non-transplant physician: what should you know? JF Breathe JO breathe FD European Respiratory Society SP 202 OP 208 DO 10.1183/20724735.042112 VO 9 IS 3 A1 Martin lversen YR 2013 UL http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/9/3/202.abstract 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.