The survival rate (average, 50%) of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary transplantation falls well below that expected for cardiac transplantation alone. We give a broad overview of the various grounds upon which this difference is likely based and discuss recent advances in each area: 1) criteria for the selection of candidates and donors, 2) methods for ex-vivo preservation of donor organs, 3) technical execution of the operative procedure, and 4) prevention of postoperative infection. In connection with the prevention of postoperative infection, we discuss the potential for the development of a chronic obliterative disease that, once established, has proved inexorable. Current efforts are focused on detection when the process is in an early, reversible stage, and on research into causation.