Favorable survival even with high disease-specific complication rates in lymphangioleiomyomatosis after lung transplantation-long-term follow-up of a Japanese center

Effect of mTOR inhibitors on the mortality and safety of patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis on the lung transplantation waitlist: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Although lung transplantation (LTx) is the last resort for patients with end-stage lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), the high waitlist mortality is a source of concern in Japan. Discontinuation of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors prior to LTx is recommended due to the incidence of severe adverse events. Therefore, we hypothesized that mTOR inhibitors may affect the mortality of patients with LAM on the LTx waitlist.

METHODS

We retrospectively compared the characteristics of consecutive patients with LAM on the LTx waitlist who were and were not receiving mTOR inhibitors.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine consecutive patients with LAM who listed our center between January 2004 and December 2021 were selected from the database and enrolled in the present study. Seventeen patients (58.6%) were receiving a mTOR inhibitor, sirolimus (treatment group). During a median listing period of 1277 days, 12 patients (41.4%) were hospitalized, six patients (20.7%) died from disease before LTx, and 15 patients underwent LTx. Among the deceased patients, four patients (66.6%) had pneumothoraces. The waitlist mortality in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the non-treatment group (p = 0.03). Among the six patients who discontinued sirolimus in the treatment group, four patients (66.6%) were hospitalized with respiratory complications after the discontinuation of sirolimus. No mTOR inhibitor-related complications arose in the treatment group undergoing LTx (n = 7), including those on a reduced sirolimus dose.

CONCLUSIONS

Administration of an mTOR inhibitor until LTx may decrease waitlist mortality. Due to life-threatening events after discontinuing sirolimus pre-LTx, a reduced dose until LTx is permissible.

Lung transplantation for lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare cystic lung disease, associated with respiratory symptoms of dyspnea and spontaneous pneumothorax, along with various extra-thoracic manifestations. Often a progressive disease, albeit slowly, patients can develop chronic and severe respiratory failure and require supplemental oxygen. Lung transplantation (LTX) can offer improved duration and quality of life for patients with end-stage lung disease due to LAM. There are several unique considerations for LTX in LAM patients, and disease-specific complications of LAM prior to LTX can affect management decisions. Furthermore, there are several possible post-transplant issues specific to LAM. In this review, we discuss evaluation and management, disease-specific complications (both pre- and post-transplant), and outcomes for LAM patients undergoing lung transplantation.

Indications for Lung Transplantation and Patient Selection

Globally, thousands of patients undergo lung transplantation owing to end-stage lung disease each year. As lung transplantation evolves, recommendations and indications are constantly being updated. In 2021, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation published a new consensus document for selecting candidates for lung transplantation. However, it is still difficult to determine appropriate candidates for lung transplantation among patients with complex medical conditions and various diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze each patient’s overall situation and medical condition from various perspectives, and ongoing efforts to optimize the analysis will be necessary. The purpose of this study is to review the extant literature and discuss recent updates.

Consensus document for the selection of lung transplant candidates: An update from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation

Tens of thousands of patients with advanced lung diseases may be eligible to be considered as potential candidates for lung transplant around the world each year. The timing of referral, evaluation, determination of candidacy, and listing of candidates continues to pose challenges and even ethical dilemmas. To address these challenges, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation appointed an international group of members to review the literature, to consider recent advances in the management of advanced lung diseases, and to update prior consensus documents on the selection of lung transplant candidates. The purpose of this updated consensus document is to assist providers throughout the world who are caring for patients with pulmonary disease to identify potential candidates for lung transplant, to optimize the timing of the referral of these patients to lung transplant centers, and to provide transplant centers with a framework for evaluating and selecting candidates. In addition to addressing general considerations and providing disease specific recommendations for referral and listing, this updated consensus document includes an ethical framework, a recognition of the variability in acceptance of risk between transplant centers, and establishes a system to account for how a combination of risk factors may be taken into consideration in candidate selection for lung transplantation.

Advances in lung transplantation for interstitial lung diseases

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Lung transplantation (LTx) is increasingly used as ultimate treatment modality in end-stage interstitial lung diseases (ILDs). This review aims to give an overview of the latest evolutions in this field.

RECENT FINDINGS

In the last two years, important new findings regarding LTx outcomes in specific ILD entities have been reported. More data are available on optimization of pre-LTx management of ILD patients especially with regard to pretransplant antifibrotic treatment.

SUMMARY

LTx is the only treatment option with curative intent for ILDs and is increasingly used for this indication. Several studies have now reported adequate outcomes in different ILD entities, although outcome is shown to be affected by underlying telomeropathies. As new studies could not replicate inferior survival with single compared with double LTx, both options remain acceptable. ILD specialists can beneficially impact on post-LTx outcome by optimizing pre-LTx management: corticosteroids should be avoided, antifibrotics should be initiated whenever possible and BMI and nutritional status optimized, rehabilitation and depression-screening strategies should be implemented in all LTx candidates, as these interventions may all improve postlung transplant survival.

A Retrospective Study of Lung Transplantation in Patients With Lymphangioleiomyomatosis: Challenges and Outcomes

Background: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare systemic disease that generally leads to a progressive decline in pulmonary function. Experience, especially from the Asian population, including combined drug therapy before and after lung transplantation (LT) in LAM, is still limited. This study aimed to summarize the clinical data from patients with pulmonary LAM who underwent LT at centers in China. Methods: A retrospective review of all patients with LAM undergoing LT at the two largest centers in China between 2010 and 2018 was conducted. Pre- and posttransplant data were assessed and analyzed. Results: Overall, 25 patients with LAM underwent bilateral LT. The mean age was 35.0 ± 8.6 years at diagnosis and 36.8 ± 9.3 years at the time of transplant. Before LT, only six patients could complete pulmonary function test; the reachable mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) before LT was 15.9 ± 6.9%. Twenty-one patients (84%) had a recurrent pneumothorax, four (16.0%) of which required pleurodesis. Eight patients (32%) were treated with sirolimus pretransplant for 3.9 years (1-9 years). The average intra-surgery bleeding volume was 1,280 ± 730 ml in need of a transfusion of 1,316 ± 874 ml due to moderate-to-severe adhesion and pretransplant pleurodesis. The causes of death of four patients (16%) included primary graft dysfunction, bronchial dehiscence with long-term use of sirolimus, and uncontrollable infections. The median follow-up time from LT was 41.1 ± 25.0 months. Conclusions: LT for LAM patients from the Asian population has been reinforced from the data that we presented. Peri-transplantation use of sirolimus and LAM-related complications should be further defined and under constant surveillance.

Ultra-rare cystic disease

Diffuse cystic lung diseases include a group of heterogeneous disorders characterised by the presence of cysts within the lung parenchyma, sometimes showing a characteristic computed tomography scan pattern that allows diagnosis. The pathogenetic mechanisms underlying cyst formation in the lung are still not clear and a number of hypotheses have been postulated according to the different aetiologies: ball-valve effect, ischaemic dilatation of small airways and alveoli related to infiltration and obstruction of small vessels and capillaries that supply the terminal bronchioles and connective tissue degradation by matrix metalloproteases. A wide number of lung cyst diseases have been classified into six diagnostic groups according to the aetiology: neoplastic, congenital/genetic, lymphoproliferative, infective, associated with interstitial lung diseases, and other causes. This article focuses on lymphangioleiomyomatosis, pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis and Erdheim–Chester disease, Birt–Hogg–Dubé, follicular bronchiolitis and lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia, light-chain deposition disease and amyloidosis, congenital lung disease associated with aberrant lung development and growth, and cystic lung disease associated with neoplastic lesion. These cystic diseases are epidemiologically considered as ultra-rare conditions as they affect fewer than one individual per 50 000 or fewer than 20 individuals per million. Despite the rarity of this group of disorders, the increasing use of high-resolution computed tomography has improved the diagnostic yield, even in asymptomatic patients allowing prompt and correct therapy and management without the need for a biopsy.

Diffuse cystic lung diseases show a characteristic CT scan pattern that often allows for diagnosis, even in asymptomatic patients, allowing prompt correct therapy and management without the needing of a biopsyhttps://bit.ly/2wIUKet