Roux-En-Y gastric bypass after lung transplantation: case report and literature review

Bariatric Surgery and Solid-Organ Transplantation

Morbid obesity and being overweight are a growing problem worldwide. They also affect patients with end-stage solid-organ disease and patients after transplant. Bariatric surgery is the most effective available weight loss procedure. Bariatric surgery can be helpful for the treatment of some conditions, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, which may lead to transplant, and weight loss can improve or even reverse them. In other cases, morbid obesity is a limitation to accessing a transplant program, so bariatric surgery can serve as a conduit to transplant. After transplant, obesity and obesity-related comorbidities can be a significant health problem that may be treated, as in patients without a transplant, with bariatric surgery. There are some specific conditions and issues to be considered in patients with end-stage solid-organ disease who are candidates for bariatric surgery, such as increased morbidity and mortality. After transplant, immunosuppressant regimens and technical limitations may be also significant.

The Transplant Evaluation Rating Scale Predicts Clinical Outcomes 1 Year After Lung Transplantation: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

Objectives: It has been recommended that all candidates for lung transplantation undergo pre-transplant psychosocial evaluation for risk assessment. However, psychosocial issues are only important if they correlate with outcomes after transplantation. Methods: In this prospective study patients who were referred for lung transplantation from 2016 to 2018 (n = 352) at Hannover Medical School were evaluated using the Transplant Evaluation Rating Scale (TERS). Clinical outcomes included listing, and post-transplant outcomes including mortality, medical aspects such as lung allograft dysfunction, hospitalizations, and renal function, behavioral aspects such as BMI and adherence, and mental issues such as levels of depression, anxiety, and quality of life. TERS scores were divided into tertiles and, in addition, the impact of the two subscale scores-"defiance" and "emotional sensitivity"-was investigated. Results: Of the patients who were transplanted (n = 271) and were still alive (n = 251), 240 had already reached their 1-year assessment at the end of 2020 and were evaluated 1 year after the operation. A subgroup of 143 received an extended mental assessment. BMI, adherence scores, levels of anxiety, depression, and quality of life 1 year post-transplantation differed significantly between TERS tertiles with higher TERS scores predicting less favorable outcomes. The TERS subscale "defiance" was predictive of BMI and adherence whereas the TERS subscale "emotional sensitivity" was predictive of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and quality of life 1 year after transplantation. Patients in the lowest TERS tertile were more likely to having been listed and-as a trend-to having survived the first year after transplantation Conclusions: Our findings show that psychosocial factors as measured by TERS score are predictors of behavioral and mental outcomes 1 year after lung transplantation. The TERS allows us to focus on psychosocial risk factors that can be treated or minimized before or after transplantation.