It might (completely guessing here) also mean that lungs that wouldn't be suitable for normal transplant due to health or condition, might be suitable to be used in this way.
I wonder how much this process reverses the age of the lungs, if you take the lungs of an 80 year old, wash them, reseed them and put them in a 20 year old, what’s the result?
I don't work in this area, but ECM scaffolds undergo significant change with age. Crosslinks and age-related remodelling degrade the mechanical properties of the scaffold and interfere with normal cell migration and differentiation.
You would want to start with a healthy organ before decellularising and reseeding.
Yes, though I would expect the risk of complications from this procedure will outweigh the benefit for healthy patients for many years after it becomes a "routine" operation for those with lung disease.