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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1994;107:755-763
© 1994 Mosby, Inc.
CARDIAC AND PULMONARY TRANSPLANTATION |
London, Ontario, Canada, Clichy, France, Hannover and Kiel, Germany, St. Louis, Mo., and Minneapolis, Minn.
From the Division of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada; The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Registry; The International Lung Transplantation Registry; and participating institutions.
Presented in part at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Meeting, Boca Raton, Fla., April 3, 1993.
Received for publication May 28, 1993. Accepted for publication Aug. 2, 1993. Address for reprints: Richard J. Novick, MD, Division of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital, P.O. Box 5339, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5A5.
Abstract
An international series of pulmonary retransplantation was updated to identify the predictors of survival in the intermediate-term after reoperation for obliterative bronchiolitis. The study cohort included 32 patients with end-stage obliterative bronchiolitis who underwent retransplantation in 15 North American and European centers between 1988 and 1992. Five types of retransplantation procedures were done, including repeat ipsilateral single lung transplantation (7 patients), repeat contralateral single lung transplantation (8 patients), repeat double lung transplantation (3 patients), double lung transplantation after a previous single lung transplantation (3 patients), and single lung transplantation after a previous double lung or heart-lung transplantation (11 patients). The mean interval between transplants was 564 ± 51 days (range 187 to 1589 days). Postoperative follow-up was 100% complete and the average follow-up in surviving patients was 678 ± 63 days. Actuarial survival was 72%, 53%, 50%, 41%, and 33% at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively. Survival did not differ according to the age, preoperative diagnosis, ambulatory or ventilator status, or cytomegalovirus serologic status of the recipient before reoperation. Life-table and Cox proportional hazards analysis identified the type of retransplantation procedure and the year of reoperation as significant (p < 0.05) predictors of postoperative survival. Actuarial survival was significantly better in patients without an old, retained contralateral graft after retransplantation and in patients who underwent reoperation between 1990 and 1992, as opposed to between 1988 and 1989. Infection was the most common cause of death at all time intervals after retransplantation, although all deaths beyond 2 years resulted from obliterative bronchiolitis of the second graft. Most surviving patients are in a satisfactory clinical condition, with a mean forced expired volume in 1 second of 59% ± 13% of predicted (repeat double lung transplant recipients) or 41% ± 6% of predicted (repeat single lung transplant recipients). We conclude that pulmonary retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis is associated with significantly worse survival than after primary lung transplantation. The absence of an old contralateral graft after retransplantation and reoperation after 1989 are important predictors of survival. Additional data and follow-up are required to determine the merit of pulmonary retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis. (J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1994;107:755-63)
Despite recent improvements in survival after lung transplantation
1-3 a deteriorating respiratory status develops in a significant number of recipients in the intermediate-term after operation because of obliterative bronchiolitis.
2,4-7 Some patients with this condition respond to augmented immunosuppression,
4 but many others experience progressive respiratory dysfunction and opportunistic infections leading to death. In the absence of effective medical therapy for end-stage obliterative bronchiolitis, increasing numbers of patients are being offered pulmonary retransplantation.
8,9 Although early survival after retransplantation is significantly lower than that after primary lung transplantation,
8 the fate of reoperative survivors in the intermediate-term has not yet been documented. We, therefore, updated our previously published series of repeat lung transplantation
8 to determine the factors predictive of intermediate-term survival after pulmonary retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
In late 1991 and early 1992 questionnaires were sent to surgeons identified by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant and the International Lung Transplant Registries as having experience with pulmonary retransplantation. Direct surgeon-to-surgeon contact by telephone and telefax resulted in a 95% center response rate by the March 1, 1992, closing date for patient accrual. Because of an ongoing study by a European center on repeat heart-lung transplantation, patients who underwent a heart-lung transplantation as the second operation were excluded, to avoid duplication. The status of all study patients was updated, with the use of follow-up questionnaires, in March 1993. Only patients with end-stage obliterative bronchiolitis after the first transplant were included in the study cohort.
The 17 parameters listed in
Table I were analyzed in each patient. Statistical analysis was performed with the BMDP statistical package (BMDP Statistical Software, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif.). All data were expressed as mean plus or minus the standard error of the mean (SEM). Actuarial survival was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method,
10 and the statistical difference between survival curves was assessed with the Wilcoxon
11 and log-rank tests. In addition, a Cox proportional hazards model
12 was used to determine, by univariate and multivariate analysis, which factors were predictive of survival after pulmonary retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis. A p value less than 0.05 was deemed significant.
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Fifteen of the 20 lung transplant centers that participated in our previous study
8 had performed pulmonary retransplants for obliterative bronchiolitis. The number of cases contributed by the eight North American and seven European centers is shown in
Table II. Thirty-two patients (51% of the original cohort) underwent retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis. The study cohort included 11 men and 21 women with a mean age of 40 ± 2 years (range 5 to 62 years). Before the first transplantation procedure, 41% had a diagnosis of emphysema; 26% primary pulmonary hypertension or Eisenmenger's syndrome; 13% restrictive lung disease; 13% cystic fibrosis; and 7% miscellaneous conditions. The interval between transplants ranged from 187 to 1589 days (mean 564 ± 51 days). Fifteen patients underwent a repeat single lung transplant for obliterative bronchiolitis, seven on the ipsilateral side and eight on the contralateral side. Eleven patients underwent a single lung transplant after a previous double lung or heart-lung transplant, three patients underwent a repeat double lung transplant, and three patients underwent a double lung transplant after a previous single lung transplant procedure.
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DISCUSSION
Obliterative bronchiolitis remains a major unresolved problem after lung and heart-lung transplantation. Although this complication occurs less frequently today than in past years,
13 recent studies have revealed a prevalence of 20%
2 to 48%
7 in intermediate-term survivors. Although some patients may respond to augmented immunosuppressive therapy,
4 many continue to deteriorate and die of respiratory failure. In recent years pulmonary retransplantation has been increasingly performed in patients with end-stage obliterative bronchiolitis.
8,9 Actuarial survival after retransplantation is lower than after primary lung transplantation,
8 and the merit of pulmonary retransplantation remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to identify preoperative and intraoperative predictors of survival in an effort to decrease morbidity and mortality after pulmonary retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis.
This study confirmed the high early postoperative mortality rate after pulmonary retransplantation. The rate of attrition decreased beyond the sixth postoperative month, yet a significant number of survivors of reoperation died of infectious complications or recurrent obliterative bronchiolitis in the intermediate-term. It is encouraging that the quality of life in reoperative survivors has remained satisfactory, with 70% or more of patients in functional class I or II at all time intervals after operation. Furthermore, the pulmonary function test data confirmed that most reoperative survivors have an acceptable FEV1 at 1 year after operation and currently. Although recurrent obliterative bronchiolitis was the major cause of death more than 2 years after retransplantation, only 3 of 22 postoperative deaths were caused by this complication. This suggests that obliterative bronchiolitis does not appear to recur in an accelerated manner after retransplantation, despite the fact that HLA matching and donor-specific lymphocytotoxic cross-matching were not done prospectively in the 15 centers participating in this study.
In this series, the most powerful predictor of survival after retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis was the year of reoperation. The difference in actuarial survival between patients who underwent retransplantation between 1990 and 1992 and those who underwent retransplantation in the years 1988 and 1989 was highly statistically significant on life-table analysis (p = 0.005). In addition, both univariate and multivariate analysis by the Cox proportional hazards model indicated that the year of reoperation was the most significant predictor of survival (p = 0.016). This finding was not apparent in our previously published series of 63 cases of pulmonary retransplantation
8 and only became evident in the obliterative bronchiolitis group after an additional year of complete follow-up.
The second most significant predictor of survival after reoperation for obliterative bronchiolitis was the type of retransplant procedure. Specifically, the presence of an old, retained contralateral graft after the second operation was frequently associated with significant infectious morbidity, whereas the absence of a retained contralateral graft resulted in significantly improved survival on life-table analysis (p = 0.03) and on univariate Cox proportional hazards analysis (p = 0.026). At 1 year, actuarial survival was 62% ± 13% in patients without an old contralateral graft as compared with 26% ± 10% in those with a retained contralateral graft. These data support the principle of complete excision of a chronically rejected (and likely infected) lung graft at the time of retransplantation.
Published data on repeat lung and heart-lung transplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis is sparse and largely anecdotal.
8 Recently, the Harefield group reported on a series of patients who underwent heart-lung or single lung transplantation after obliterative bronchiolitis developed after a previous heart-lung transplant.
9,14 Actuarial survival in the 25 patients who underwent repeat heart-lung transplantation was only 25% at 1 year. Single lung retransplantation (after a previous heart-lung transplant) in nine patients resulted in a 1-year actuarial survival of 67%. All of the repeat heart-lung transplants were performed between 1986 and 1990, whereas most of the single lung retransplants were performed between 1990 and 1992. On life-table analysis, the year of retransplantation was not statistically related to survival, yet the authors did not do a proportional hazards analysis of their data to investigate further this possibility. It is possible that the superior results in the single lung retransplant group may have reflected increasing experience in the operative and postoperative care of patients undergoing pulmonary retransplant, rather than a true difference between the two types of reoperative procedures. Additional data and a longer duration of follow-up will be required to determine definitively which retransplant procedure is indicated in pulmonary retransplant candidates with obliterative bronchiolitis.
In our previous report
8 donor CMV serologic status was a significant predictor of survival. In the current study of patients who underwent retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis, donor CMV status showed only a nonsignificant trend toward predicting survival (Fig. 7). Actuarial survival was 57% ± 13% at 1 year in patients receiving a CMV-negative graft as opposed to 33% ± 14% in those receiving a CMV-positive graft. The lack of statistical difference between the two groups may reflect the smaller patient numbers in this study or the fact that more of the recipients undergoing retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis were CMV positive before operation than patients undergoing retransplantation for other indications. The fact that preoperative ambulatory and ventilator status were not predictive of survival in this study indicates that none of the preoperative variables that were investigated, except established multiorgan failure, is predictive of a poor outcome after pulmonary retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis.
Although overall survival after pulmonary retransplantation remains lower than that after primary lung transplantation, a number of European centers have developed particular expertise in the operative and postoperative care of patients undergoing retransplantation and report almost similar actuarial survival after primary and repeat lung transplantation.
15,16 Fig. 4 shows the trend toward improved survival in patients with obliterative bronchiolitis who underwent retransplantation in Europe; 1-year actuarial survival was 53% ± 12% in European centers as opposed to 27% ± 11% in North America. This study did not document the official waiting times of retransplant candidates, which may have been different in Europe than in North America. Alternatively, the trend toward improved results in European centers may reflect the increased experience of some European transplant surgeons in the care of pulmonary retransplant recipients.
The practice of pulmonary retransplantation continues to raise ethical dilemmas, especially in view of the increasingly severe shortage of primary lung grafts available for transplantation. Given the relatively high incidence of obliterative bronchiolitis and the limited number of lung grafts, it is clear that pulmonary retransplantation is not the solution for the problem of obliterative bronchiolitis and will remain a treatment that is applied sporadically, at least in North America. Further research into the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of obliterative bronchiolitis is urgently required to decrease the intermediate-term morbidity and mortality after lung transplantation. In the interim, surgeons who perform pulmonary retransplants for obliterative bronchiolitis should continue to report their results to the international lung transplant community so that the merit or lack of merit of retransplantation for obliterative bronchiolitis can be ascertained.
We thank the contributing thoracic surgeons, pulmonary medicine physicians, and recipient coordinators who are listed in the appendix section of our previously published paper.
8 We also acknowledge the assistance of Heather Motloch in manuscript preparation and of Larry Stitt, MSc (Biostatistics and Epidemiology), in performing the statistical analyses.
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