RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Single-lung retransplantation for late graft failure JF European Respiratory Journal JO Eur Respir J FD European Respiratory Society SP 1202 OP 1206 DO 10.1183/09031936.93.06081202 VO 6 IS 8 A1 M Fournier A1 C Sleiman A1 H Mal A1 O Groussard A1 JL Mollo A1 JP Duchatelle A1 B Andreassian A1 R Pariente YR 1993 UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/6/8/1202.abstract AB In lung or heart-lung recipients, an irreversible graft-failure may develop in connection with chronic rejection, infection or bronchial complications. A limited number of transplant-recipients have undergone a retransplantation procedure in several centres. First results are discouraging, especially in the case of early retransplantation. We decided, 3 yrs ago, to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of single-lung retransplantation in lung-transplant recipients with late graft-failure. Eight consecutive single-lung retransplantations were performed in patients with previous single-lung (n = 7), or double-lung (n = 1) transplant. Primary graft and native lung were removed in 5 and 3 patients, respectively. The delay between the two surgical procedures was 16 +/- 10 months (range 6-37 months). Three patients died within 3 months. Long-term survivors experienced stable and satisfactory functional results (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 63 +/- 21% predicted; range 40-103% predicted), with survival values ranging 8-20 months. One patient died of septic shock 16.5 months after retransplantation. The remaining four patients are alive. These data suggest that the retransplantation option could be considered in selected patients with late graft-failure. The final decision for retransplantation, however, is largely influenced by the current shortage of donor lungs.