Lung transplantation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Lung transplant in end-staged chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients: a concise review

Lung transplantation is commonly used for patients with end-stage lung disease. However, there is continuing debate on the optimal operation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis. Single-lung transplantation (SLT) provides equivalent short- and medium-term results compared with bilateral lung transplantation (BLT), but long-term survival appears slightly better in BLT recipients (especially in patients with COPD). The number of available organs for lung transplantation also influences the choice of operation. Recent developments suggest that the organ donor shortage is not as severe as previously thought, making BLT a possible alternative for more patients. Among the different complications, re-implantation edema, infection, rejection, and bronchial complications predominate. Chronic rejection, also called obliterative bronchiolitis syndrome, is a later complication which can be observed in about half of the patients. Improvement in graft survival depends greatly in improvement in prevention and management of complications. Despite such complications, graft survival in fibrosis patients is greater than spontaneous survival on the waiting list; idiopathic fibrosis is associated with the highest mortality on the waiting list. Patients should be referred early for the pre-transplantation work-up because individual prognosis is very difficult to predict.

[Surgery for emphysema: recent advances]

INTRODUCTION

The treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has progressed considerably over the past 40 Years but, for most patients with advanced disease, medical management does not often produce more than limited benefits, particularly in terms of quality of life.

STATE OF ART

Over the last decade the surgical treatment of emphysema, which was previously limited to bullectomy, has seen important developments: for carefully selected patients lung Volume reduction surgery and lung transplantation now offer the possibility of real symptomatic improvement and even prolonged survival. Thanks to the thousands of patients who have received these treatments our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms, surgical techniques, risks and benefits, medium and long-term results, and selection criteria has improved considerably.

PERSPECTIVES AND CONCLUSIONS

This review summarises the most important aspects of these developments and discusses the role of Volume reduction and lung transplantation in the treatment of advanced emphysema.