Abstract
Lung transplantation is a therapeutic option for selected patients with severe interstitial disease who continue to have progressive clinical deterioration. There is a survival advantage for selected patients who undergo transplant, but it primarily improves quality of life after transplantation. Unfortunately, patients with IPF have worse outcomes following lung transplantation due to various factors. This review article will describe several common postoperative complications including an astamotic complications, allograft dysfunction, cardiovascular complications, thromboembolic phenomenon, renal failure, neurologic complications and complications related to the native lung in the single lung transplant recipients.
Highlights
To date, all the medical therapies evaluated for patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) have had no effect on the natural course of the disease
Any of four surgical options are available to patients needing lung transplantation; Single Lung Transplant (SLT), Bilateral Sequential Lung Transplant (BSLT), Living Lobar Transplant and Heart-Lung Transplant (HLT)
We present a case of a 67 year-old man who developed dyspnea, hypoxemia and hypercapnea 3 months following a single lung transplant for IPF
Summary
All the medical therapies evaluated for patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) have had no effect on the natural course of the disease. Pulmonary fibrosis is the second most common indication for lung transplantation. The 5-year survival for patients with IPF is the lowest compared to patients with other lung ailments requiring lung transplantation (Chart 1). Chart 1: Kaplan-Meier survival by diagnosis for adult lung transplants performed between January 1990 and June 2010. Alpha-1, α1-antitrypsin deficiency emphysema; CF, cystic fi- brosis; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; IPF, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; P AH, pulmonary arterial hypertension [Christie JD, Edwards LB, Kucheryavaya AY, et al The registry of the international society for heart and lung transplantation: 29th adult lung and heart-ling transplantation report – 2012.
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