Should we be concerned about air quality as a contributor to poor outcomes in lung transplant recipients?

Abstract

Recurrent and chronic rejection and infection are the principal reasons for poor outcomes in lung transplant recipients who manifest chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). The aetiology of CLAD is poorly understood and the prognosis is poor [1]. Indeed, environmental factors, including those from work, indoor sources and ambient sources (outdoors) that affect air quality, can be reasonably anticipated to affect the highly susceptible transplanted lungs as much as or more than healthy or diseased native lungs. Hence, there is an interest in studying whether environmental factors influence both the development and progression of post-transplantation complications including CLAD. Two new papers show adverse effects of air pollution following lung transplantation. What can we conclude?