Chest
The Role of Transbronchial Lung Biopsy in the Treatment of Lung Transplant Recipients: An Analysis of 200 Consecutive Procedures
Section snippets
Design
This study was a retrospective review and analysis of 203 bronchoscopies with transbronchial lung biopsies performed in 55 lung transplant recipients.
Patients
Between July 1, 1988 and February 13, 1991, 69 lung transplants were performed in 66 recipients. Three patients had retransplantations, two for early graft failure and one for late chronic rejection. Potential recipients were selected according to predetermined criteria.9 Single (SLT), double (DLT), and bilateral (BLT) lung transplants were
RESULTS
Two hundred three procedures were performed in 55 recipients. All except six recipients underwent more than one procedure, and the average number of procedures per recipient was 3.7. The number of procedures for each indication is presented in Table 3. Eighty-eight procedures were performed in 42 recipients for a clinical indication, 90 procedures were performed in 43 recipients for surveillance, and 25 procedures were performed in 16 recipients for follow-up.
The results of the procedures are
DISCUSSION
During the last several years, lung transplant activity has expanded rapidly, and in the United States, the annual number of lung transplants now substantially exceeds the number of heart-lung transplants. After both heart-lung and lung transplantation, early deaths have been primarily related to perioperative complications and infection, and late morbidity and mortality have been associated with both infection and rejection.1 Because clinical criteria for the diagnosis of rejection, such as
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