Research

Hormonal

GLP-1 analogues (liraglutide and semaglutide) enable significant weight loss (approx. 14%) in obese patients with end-stage lung disease, thereby bridging the gap to lung transplantation eligibility when dietary and exercise interventions fail.

If you have severe lung disease and a BMI that bars you from transplant, ask your care team about GLP-1 medications (like semaglutide or liraglutide). This case shows they can help you lose enough weight to qualify for surgery when diet and exercise aren't enough, even while taking steroids.

LimitedSupportsLOW confidence
She had a rapid response to GLP- 1 therapy with over 14 kg of weight loss (14% of original body weight) over 6 months... She was listed for lung transplantation once sufficient weight loss was achieved.
Marissa O’Callaghan et al. · BMJ Case Reports · 2024

Why this rating

Single case report; lacks control group and generalizability.

Source

Weight loss with GLP-1 analogues in preparation for transplantation

Marissa O’Callaghan et al. · BMJ Case Reports · 2024

DOI 10.1136/bcr-2023-256099

case_report · n=1Cited 1×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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