Korean J Transplant.  2022 Nov;36(Supple 1):S379. 10.4285/ATW2022.F-5203.

Clinical characteristics of lung transplant recipients who underwent bronchoscopic balloon dilatation for bronchial stenosis

• Ki MS
• Woo A
• Kim SY
• Kim YS
• Kim HE
• Lee JG
• Paik HC
• Park MS

• KMID: 2535225
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4285/ATW2022.F-5203

Abstract

Background
Bronchial stenosis (BS) after lung transplantation is a major posttransplant airway complication, and broncho-scopic balloon dilatation is widely used for the management of bronchial stenosis because of its safety and ease of procedure. There are few studies on posttransplant bronchial stenosis and balloon dilatation in Asian lung transplant recipients.
Methods
Medical records of lung transplant recipients from January 2013 to March 2020 at a university hospital in Seoul were reviewed retrospectively.
Results
In this lung transplant cohort, 42 (15.7%) out of 267 transplant recipients were identified as bronchial stenosis patients who underwent balloon dilatation. The mean age and sex distribution of patients with bronchial stenosis did not show a statistically significant difference compared to patients without bronchial stenosis. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in the presence or absence of major comorbidities. The most common underlying lung disease in both groups was interstitial lung disease, and almost all patients in both groups underwent bilateral lung transplantation. When comparing the incidence of postoperative complications after transplantation, there were no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Also, no statistical difference was observed between the two groups in the overall mortality (without BS vs. with BS, 48.9% vs. 40.5%; P=0.404). On average, balloon dilatation for bronchial stenosis was performed 6 months after lung trans-plantation in patients with bronchial stenosis. Bronchoscopic balloon dilatation was performed at multiple sites in more than half of patients with bronchial stenosis. Patients with bronchial stenosis underwent an average of five or more balloon dilatations, and 21.4% of them underwent bronchial stent placement via rigid bronchoscopy (Table).
Conclusions
In this lung transplant recipient cohort, the clinical characteristics of patients with bronchial stenosis were similar to those without bronchial stenosis. In many of these, balloon dilatation was repeatedly performed at multiple sites.