The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center moved into first place last year among the nation's medical centers in the number of lung transplants performed.

UPMC had 87 transplants last year, 20 more than Duke University Medical Center, which ranked second, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

The previous year, UPMC tied for third with Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Both had 58 transplants, behind Duke with 59 and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation with 63.

The totals for UPMC do not include four combined heart and lung transplants that also were performed last year, and three combined heart-lung transplants in 2004.

As the number of lung transplants has increased at UPMC, outcomes also have improved, officials said. The one-year survival rate is 88 percent, compared with the national average of 81 percent.

This year, UPMC may perform more than 100 lung transplants, said Dr. Kenneth McCurry, director of cardiopulmonary transplantation at the UPMC Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute.

"I'd emphasize our goal is not simply numbers; our goal is to help patients," Dr. McCurry said.

He credited a dedicated team of doctors, transplant coordinators, nurses, social workers and administrators with helping to get patients evaluated, listed for transplants and transplanted more quickly, including those who would be turned down at other centers.

Leading reasons for lung transplantation include pulmonary hypertension, emphysema, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and cystic fibrosis, an inherited condition that can cause severe lung damage.

Katie Michel, a cystic fibrosis patient, received a double lung transplant at UPMC early last year.

"They were pretty much kaput," Ms. Michel, 23, of Squirrel Hill, said of her damaged lungs. "I could barely do anything without having to be hospitalized."

Even getting dressed in the morning was a challenge, often leaving her exhausted.

After the transplant, she said she was released from the hospital in 12 days. She now feels better than she has in many years.

"It's really made a huge difference in my life," she said.

Dr. McCurry said factors that have led to more lung transplants at UPMC include use of donor lungs that in the past would have been rejected, in part because of a better understanding that those organs can work well.

New immunosuppression therapies also have improved lung function immediately following the operation and allowed doctors to offer the surgery to sicker patients, he said.

Since 1982, UPMC surgeons have performed 903 lung transplants, 115 of them combined heart and lung transplants.