Long term survival after lung transplantation: A single center experience.

BACKGROUND: There are approximately 2000 lung transplants performed across the United States annually. There is limited data to identify factors predictive of long-term survival. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated 10-year survivors after lung transplant to determine predictors of long-term survival. METHODS: Data were collected from the United Network for Organ Sharing registry database from a single institution. Inclusion criteria were: patients who received a lung transplant between 1989 and 2005. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and survival outcomes were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Three hundred sixty-one patients received a lung transplant between 1989 and 2005, and 77 patients survived at least 10 years (21%). Diagnoses at the time of transplant included: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema 45 (58.4%), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis 12 (15.6%), alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency 6 (7.8%), cystic fibrosis 4 (5.2%), primary pulmonary hypertension 2 (2.6%), and Eisenmenger's syndrome 1 (1.3%). Seventy-four recipients (96.10%) were Caucasian; 46 (59.74%) were female. Age at the time of transplant ranged from 19 to 67 years (mean 50.8; median 52). Forty-two patients (54.5%) were double lung recipients. Survival ranged from 10.0 to 21.9 years (mean 15.5y; median 15.48y). Forty-two (54.5%) subjects are currently alive; the most common causes of death included: chronic rejection (20%), and infection (17.14%). CONCLUSIONS: Ten-year survivors were significantly younger, weighed less, and had significantly shorter lengths of hospitalization after transplantation. Bilateral lung transplantation was a significant factor in prolonged survival. Survival also improved with institutional experience.

Donor heart and lung procurement: A consensus statement.

Heart and lung procurements are multiphased processes often accompanied by an array of complex logistics. Approaches to donor evaluation and management, organ procurement, and organ preservation vary among individual procurement teams. Because early graft failure remains a major cause of mortality in contemporary thoracic organ transplant recipients, we sought to establish some standardization in the procurement process. This paper, in this vein, represents an international consensus statement on donor heart and lung procurement and is designed to serve as a guide for physicians, surgeons, and other providers who manage donors to best optimize the clinical status for the procurement of both heart and lungs for transplantation. Donation after brain death (DBD) and donation after circulatory determination death (referred to as donation after circulatory death [DCD] for the remainder of the paper) for both heart and lung transplantation will be discussed in this paper. Although the data available on DCD heart donation are limited, information regarding the surgical technique for procurement is included within this consensus statement. Furthermore, this paper will focus on adult DBD and DCD heart and lung procurement. Currently, no certification, which is either recognized and/or endorsed by the transplant community at large, exists for the training of a cardiothoracic procurement surgeon. Nevertheless, establishing a training curriculum and credentialing requirements are beyond the scope of this paper.