Ten days ago around 10 p.m. Ljubljana's UKC received information that a suitable donor had been found. A little after midnight a medical team went to get the lungs abroad with the government Falcon jet. The donor's country of origin has not been disclosed. Upon their arrival the team first tested and analyzed the quality of the lungs. Two hours later the team returned to Ljubljana.

In the meantime anesthesiologists in Ljubljana prepared the patient for the surgery. It lasted seven hours and was successfully performed by four surgeons, nurses and other medical specialists. At present, the female patient is recovering well.

This was only the second lung transplant in Slovenia. The first happened in 2003 to another female patient, when a medical team managed to transplant one lung. Slovenian patients, from three to eight per year, were previously always operated at the Medical University in Vienna.

In the years between Slovenia's medical team has gained much knowledge and experience from their colleagues in Vienna. This year's surgery successfully heralds the start of the full lungs transplant program at the UKC Ljubljana. That means that apart from preparing patients for transplant surgeries and their postoperative care, such procedure will now also be carried out in Slovenia. In a few years officials expect the number of lung transplants to rise to around 15-12 per year.

The costs of the program are not yet clear, but it is expected to be cheaper than sending patients to Vienna. Additional employment will be needed. Some of those who took part in the milestone surgery that day spent more than 48 hours at UKC Ljubljana.