F. Santos

Results of Lung Transplantation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients

Lung transplantation (OLT) remains the only available therapy for patients with end-stage idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The objective of this study was to review our experience of OLT for end-stage IPF (IPFLT) patients, seeking to identify variables associated with survival for comparison with outcomes of other indications for LT (OILT). From October 1993 to December 2009, we performed 310 consecutive OLT in 301 patients for treatment of various end-stage pulmonary conditions. The indications for OLT were: IPF (n=89, 30.5%) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n=82), cystic fibrosis (n=80), bronchiectasis (n=12), alfa-1-antitrypsin deficit (n=6), primary pulmonary hypertension (n=4), bronchiolitis obliterans (n=4), other conditions (n=15). We observed significant differences in the actuarial survival between the IPFLT and the OILT groups particularly at the expense of worse perioperative 30-day and early 1-year mortality in the IPFLT group. Upon univariate and multivariate analyses, the need for cardiopulmonary bypass, previous recipient ventilator dependence, and donor age>50 years were all associated with poorer survival rates among IPF patients. In our experience, survival did not differ between patients who underwent a single versus a bilateral sequential lung transplant (BSLT); however, BSLT cases were associated with short-term damage but long-term survival. The functional results in the IPFLT group were excellent. We observed significant improvements in the values of arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2), arterial carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO2), forced vital capacity (FVC%) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1%) at 6, 12, and 36 months compared to their pretransplant baseline results.

Lung Transplantation in Patients Under Mechanical Ventilation

LUNG TRANSPLANTATION (LT) has become an acceptable therapeutic option for several end-stage lung diseases. According to the Registry of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), the need for preoperative mechanical ventilation has been identified as a risk factor for early mortality after LT. Thus, long-term mechanical ventilation has been considered to be a relative contraindication for LT by most centers. In Spain, those patients who are intubated due to acute respiratory failure while awaiting an LT are defined as “urgent code” and have priority to undergo an emergency LT. The aim of this study was to describe our experience with emergency LT. The outcomes after transplantation in these patients were reviewed and compared to those in patients without the need for preoperative mechanical ventilation.

Lung transplants with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil: a review

Traditionally, immunosuppressive maintenance therapy in solid organ transplantation has consisted of cyclosporine (CsA), azathioprine, and prednisone. However, lung transplant recipients are far more frequently affected by acute rejection, especially during the first 6 months after the transplantation, than patients with other transplanted organs. Further, they display a greater risk for chronic transplant dysfunction and ultimate graft loss. Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among long-term survivors after lung transplantation. Acute pulmonary allograft rejection has been identified as the major risk factor for the development of BOS. Based on favourable results in kidney, liver, and heart transplantation, tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil have been used as primary prophylaxis and as rescue therapy for recurrent or persistent acute rejection and BOS. A secondary indication is CsA toxicity. This review focuses on reported results of the combination of tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil in lung transplantation. These new immunosuppressive drugs have markedly improved the efficacy profiles without additional detrimental toxicities, and appear to be a safe alternative to CsA and azathioprine in patients following lung transplantation. However, at present, BOS is not influenced by these new drugs. The optimal long-term immunosuppressive regimen remains to be established.

Results of Lung Transplantation in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis

Lung transplantation (LT) is the only available option for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) with end-stage lung disease. We reviewed our experience with LT in patients with end-stage CF (CFLT) to identify variables associated with survival and to compare the results with other indications for LT (OILT). Between October 1993 and October 2007, we performed 259 consecutive LTs in 250 patients for treatment of various end-stage pulmonary conditions. The indications for LT were CF in 78 patients idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 76, COPD in 64, bronchiectasis in 11, alfa-1-antitrypsin deficit in 5, primary pulmonary hypertension in 4, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in 4, and other indications in 11. Our study group comprised 78 patients with CF (30.11%) (CFLT). We observed significant differences in the actuarial survival between the CFLT and OILT groups. Perioperative mortality and the incidence of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome were comparable in both groups. We found that in patients with CF, LT performed under urgency code (mechanical ventilation) showed no significant difference from LT performed electively insofar as long-term survival, early death, or perioperative death. The functional results in the CFLT group were excellent. We observed significant improvement in PaO(2), PaCO(2), forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration at 6, 12, and 36 months compared with the pretransplantation baseline values.

Lung Cancer in Patients With Lung Transplants

OBJECTIVEnThe aim of our study was to describe the incidence of lung cancer in patients after lung transplantation (LT).nnnMATERIALS AND METHODSnWe performed an observational, retrospective, descriptive study based on data from 340 patients undergoing lung transplantation between October 1993 and December 2010. We collected data about the donors, recipients, intra- and postoperative periods, and survivals.nnnRESULTSnWe identified 9 (2.6%) patients who developed lung cancer after LT. Their average age was 56 ± 9.3 years (range, 18-63). All cases were men with 8/9 (88.8%) having received a single lung transplant. All cancers developed in the native lung. The indications for transplantation were: emphysema type chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; n = 5), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (n = 3), or cystic fibrosis (n = 1); 77% of them were former smokers. All of the COPD patient were affected. The interval from transplantation to diagnosis was 53.3 ± 12 months (range 24-86). Survival after cancer diagnosis was 49.3 ± 6.3 (range = 0-180) months.nnnCONCLUSIONSnLT was associated with a relatively high incidence of lung cancer, particularly in the native lung. In our series, lung cancer was related more to patients with emphysema-type COPD and a history of smoking. We believe that these patients should be closely followed to establish the diagnosis and apply early treatment.

Urgency-Code Lung Transplantation for Cystic Fibrosis: Experience and Results

Lung transplantation (LT) under urgency-code mechanical ventilation (UCMV) has been identified in the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Registry as a negative prognostic factor increasing the likelihood of mortality. The objective of this study was to review our experience of UCLT for with cystic fibrosis (CF) patients compared with elective LT (ELT). From October 1993 to October 2007, we performed 259 consecutive LTs in 250 patients, of whom 78 (31.20%) had CF. Our study group comprised CF patients who received UCLT (n = 23). The type of LT in the UCLT group was as follows: bipulmonary (18), left unipulmonary (2), and bilobar transplantation from cadavers (3). The UCLT group more often required cardiopulmonary bypass (CB) (P = .025), pulmonary tailoring (P = .030), and longer periods of pulmonary ischemia (P = .066) than the ELT group. We noticed a greater number of cases of pneumonia during the first postoperative month in the UCLT group. However, incidence of surgical complications, early and perioperative mortality, and episodes of acute and chronic rejection (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome) did not differ between the groups. Survival rates at 1, 3, 5, and 10 years were 73.66%, 63.74%, 42.49%, and 42.49%, respectively, in the UCLT group (mean, 1927 [SE = 366] days) and 75.95%, 71.32%, 63.37%, and 63.37% in the ELT group (mean, 2946 [SE = 281] days; P = .3417). In our experience, UCLT in patients with CF is fully justified. Careful selection of such cases permits acceptable long-term survival rates to be achieved with no increase in early or perioperative mortality.

Experience of the Reina Sofia Hospital in Lobar Lung Transplantation

The number of patients awaiting lung transplantation has steadily increased over the past decade, but the number of donors has remained relatively stable. Owing to the increasing scarcity of donor lungs, especially for pediatric and small adult recipients, advanced operative strategies for the use of larger grafts for smaller recipients have been developed. Size matching between donors and recipients represents one of the organ distribution criteria widely accepted by lung transplantation teams. However, in some cases it is not possible to allocate a donor to the corresponding size-compatible recipient. To avoid possible complications derived from the implantation of oversized lungs into smaller recipients, various methods of downsizing are applied for cadaveric donor lungs, such as lobar transplantation. We review our experience in 6 patients undergoing volume reduction of the lung graft by lobar resection at the time of transplantation. Graft volume reduction by anatomic resection (lobar transplantation) is a reliable and safe procedure to overcome size disparities between the donor and the recipient of a lung transplant, and thus to maximize the number of donors.

Results of lung transplantation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

OBJECTIVEnThe objective of this study was to evaluate the results and survival rates of patients who underwent lung transplantation (LT) to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).nnnMETHODOLOGYnWe performed a retrospective analysis of 63 patients with COPD who underwent LT between 1996 and 2007. Our statistical analysis was based on descriptive statistics and survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier and log-rank test).nnnRESULTSnSixty-three LTs were performed in 53 male and 10 female patients with COPD. Twenty-eight LTs were unipulmonary and 35 were bipulmonary. Four cases required extracorporeal circulation. Surgical complications arose in 18 cases. There were 3 cases of intraoperative death as a result of cardiac failure. The most frequent long-term complications were hypertension (39.7%), renal failure (42.9%), and neoplasms (20.6%). Overall survival times (mean, 2553 days) were 75.9%, 74.15%, 65.67%, 55.87%, and 42.05% at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 years, respectively. No differences were observed in survival according to the following: donor age >30 years (P = 8), type of transplantation (unilateral vs bilateral; P = .57), donor intubation time >48 hours (P = .2), or donor oxygenation index <450 mm Hg (P = .3).nnnCONCLUSIONSnNo differences were observed in survival according to the type of transplantation (unilateral vs bilateral), which suggests that unipulmonary transplantation is a reasonable option, given that this procedure reduces both the ischemia time compared with bilateral transplantation and the surgery time, as well as offering more efficient use of donor organs.

Effects of Deep Hypothermic Preservation on Posttransplant Viability of Tracheal Grafts

OBJECTIVEnUsing an animal model, we performed a study to assess the effects of rapid freezing in the absence of cryoprotectants on the viability of tracheal grafts after allotransplantation.nnnMATERIALS AND METHODSnTen tracheal heterotopic transplantations were performed with fresh grafts just after harvesting donors, and 20, with cryopreserved specimens at 2 or 6 weeks after hypothermic storage. Cryopreservation consisted of rapid cooling in the absence of cryoadditives with storage for 2 weeks at -80°C. After rewarming, grafts were transplanted into the abdominal cavity of immunosuppressed rats by being embedded into the greater omentum. Fourteen days later, the implants were removed to examine chondrocyte viability, submucosal swelling, and epithelial patterns in comparison with fresh controls.nnnRESULTSnAll allografts retained their macroscopic structure after transplantation. Respiratory epithelium was substituted by planar epithelium only in the frozen transplanted specimens. Fresh transplanted grafts exhibited 100% chondral viability in contrast with 5% viability observed among cryopreserved tracheas after transplantation.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe method of rapid freezing was effective to preserve airway grafts. However, the quality of cryopreserved cartilage was disappointing, similar to that obtained using conventional slow-freezing protocols.