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Lung transplantation has become an established life-saving treatment for selected patients with end-stage pulmonary disease. In December 2024, our center reached the milestone of 1,500 lung transplants, providing an opportunity to evaluate long-term trends, outcomes, and challenges. We analyzed donor and recipient demographics, procedural evolution, and graft survival. Contemporary guidelines and consensus recommendations were also reviewed to contextualize current practice and highlight unmet needs. Median graft survival improved markedly across eras: 3.5 years between 1991 and 2000, 9.9 years between 2001 and 2010, and 11.2 years between 2011 and 2020 (p < 0.0001). Shifts in procedure type, donor selection, and transplant indications mirrored broader developments in the field (all p < 0.0001). Donor and recipient age increased significantly over time, with older recipients experiencing poorer long-term outcomes. Despite these advances, chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) remains the most important barrier to durable success, with median CLAD-free survival of 6.7 years in the modern era (2010–2024) and a retransplantation rate of 4%. While survival now exceeds a decade in many recipients, extended longevity presents new challenges, including management of comorbidities and optimization of CLAD prevention, treatment, and retransplantation strategies. Continued translational research and evidence-based approaches remain critical to improving long-term results.

Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare connective tissue disease with a heterogeneous clinical course. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common manifestation of SSc and a leading cause of death. Main body All patients newly diagnosed with SSc should receive a comprehensive clinical evaluation, including assessment of respiratory symptoms, a high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of the chest, and pulmonary function tests. ILD can develop in any patient with SSc, including those with pulmonary hypertension, but the risk is increased in those with diffuse (rather than limited) cutaneous SSc, those with anti-Scl-70/anti-topoisomerase I antibody, and in the absence of anti-centromere antibody. While it can occur at any time, the risk of developing ILD is greatest early in the course of SSc, so patients should be monitored closely in the first few years after diagnosis. An increased extent of lung fibrosis on HRCT and a low forced vital capacity (FVC) are predictors of early mortality. While not all patients will require treatment, current approaches to the treatment of progressive SSc-ILD focus on immunosuppressant therapies, including cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil. In patients with severe and/or rapidly progressive disease, both haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and lung transplantation have been successfully used. A number of medications, including the two drugs approved for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), are under active investigation as potential new therapies for SSc-ILD. Conclusions Physicians managing patients with SSc should maintain a high level of suspicion and regularly monitor for ILD, particularly in the first few years after diagnosis.

Harald Ott and his colleagues build on their earlier work, based on reconstruction of a decellularized heart, to develop a new way to bioengineer a functioning lung. Through a process of decellularization, seeding with endothelial and epithelial cells, and maturation in an innovative bioreactor system, followed by transplantation into rats of the regenerated lungs in orthotopic position, the group was able to demonstrate adequate ventilation, blood flow and gas exchange in vivo for short periods of time. About 2,000 patients now await a donor lung in the United States. Worldwide, 50 million individuals are living with end-stage lung disease. Creation of a bioartificial lung requires engineering of viable lung architecture enabling ventilation, perfusion and gas exchange. We decellularized lungs by detergent perfusion and yielded scaffolds with acellular vasculature, airways and alveoli. To regenerate gas exchange tissue, we seeded scaffolds with epithelial and endothelial cells. To establish function, we perfused and ventilated cell-seeded constructs in a bioreactor simulating the physiologic environment of developing lung. By day 5, constructs could be perfused with blood and ventilated using physiologic pressures, and they generated gas exchange comparable to that of isolated native lungs. To show in vivo function, we transplanted regenerated lungs into orthotopic position. After transplantation, constructs were perfused by the recipient's circulation and ventilated by means of the recipient's airway and respiratory muscles, and they provided gas exchange in vivo for up to 6 h after extubation.

Among adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension at high risk for death, sotatercept reduced the risk of a composite of death from any cause, lung transplantation, or hospitalization for worsening pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Little is known regarding appropriate patient selection for and clinical outcomes with lung transplantation for respiratory failure due to Covid-19. This study analyzes lung transplantations reported in the United Network for Organ Sharing registry from August 2020 through September 2021.

Abstract First performed in 1963, lung transplantation is approaching the half-century mark. With more than 32,000 procedures having been performed worldwide, lung transplantation has become the standard of care for select patients with advanced lung diseases of various nonmalignant etiologies. Indications for transplantation have broadened over the years, and selection criteria have become less restrictive. A relatively scarce donor pool limits wider application of this therapy, but this is being addressed in part through relaxation of donor selection criteria, donor management protocols that preserve and optimize lung function, and development of ex vivo perfusion techniques to “recondition” suboptimal organs. Bilateral lung transplantation has become the procedure of choice for most indications, although its preferential use in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis remains controversial. Post-transplantation survival has steadily improved, but significant constraints on long-term survival persist as evidenced by a median survival rate that currently stands at 5.7 years. This has brought into focus the question of whether and for whom transplantation actually confers a survival advantage, a question that in the absence of randomized trials can only be answered with statistical modeling. Primary graft dysfunction, infection, and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome are common complications encountered by the lung transplant recipient and are major impediments to long-term survival. This review provides an overview of the current status of lung transplantation, highlighting both the many advances that have taken place and the challenges that remain.

Abstract Rationale Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is the main cause of early morbidity and mortality after lung transplantation. Previous studies have yielded conflicting results for PGD risk factors. Objectives We sought to identify donor, recipient, and perioperative risk factors for PGD. Methods We performed a 10-center prospective cohort study enrolled between March 2002 and December 2010 (the Lung Transplant Outcomes Group). The primary outcome was International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation grade 3 PGD at 48 or 72 hours post-transplant. The association of potential risk factors with PGD was analyzed using multivariable conditional logistic regression. Measurements and Main Results A total of 1,255 patients from 10 centers were enrolled; 211 subjects (16.8%) developed grade 3 PGD. In multivariable models, independent risk factors for PGD were any history of donor smoking (odds ratio [OR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2–2.6; P = 0.002); FiO2 during allograft reperfusion (OR, 1.1 per 10% increase in FiO2; 95% CI, 1.0–1.2; P = 0.01); single lung transplant (OR, 2; 95% CI, 1.2–3.3; P = 0.008); use of cardiopulmonary bypass (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 2.2–5.3; P < 0.001); overweight (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.2–2.7; P = 0.01) and obese (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.3–3.9; P = 0.004) recipient body mass index; preoperative sarcoidosis (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1–5.6; P = 0.03) or pulmonary arterial hypertension (OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.6–7.7; P = 0.002); and mean pulmonary artery pressure (OR, 1.3 per 10 mm Hg increase; 95% CI, 1.1–1.5; P < 0.001). PGD was significantly associated with 90-day (relative risk, 4.8; absolute risk increase, 18%; P < 0.001) and 1-year (relative risk, 3; absolute risk increase, 23%; P < 0.001) mortality. Conclusions We identified grade 3 PGD risk factors, several of which are potentially modifiable and should be prioritized for future research aimed at preventative strategies. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00552357).

Despite increasing evidence about the role of donor-specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies in transplant outcomes, the incidence and impact of de novo donor-specific antibodies (dnDSA) after lung transplantation remains unclear. To describe the incidence, characteristics, and impact of dnDSA after lung transplantation. We investigated a single-center cohort of 340 lung transplant recipients undergoing transplant during 2008 to 2011. All patients underwent HLA-antibody testing quarterly pretransplant and at regular intervals over the first 24 months after transplant. The patients received modified immunosuppression depending on their pretransplant sensitization status. Risk factors for dnDSA development, as well as the associations of dnDSA with patient survival and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), were determined using multivariable analysis. The cumulative incidence of dnDSA was 47% at a median of 86 days (range, 44-185 d) after lung transplantation. Seventy-six percent of recipients with dnDSA had DQ-DSA. Male sex and the use of ex vivo lung perfusion were associated with an increased risk of dnDSA, whereas increased HLA-DQB1 matching was protective. DQ-dnDSA preceded or coincided with the diagnosis of CLAD in all cases. Developing dnDSA (vs. no dnDSA) was associated with a twofold increased risk of CLAD (hazard ratio, 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.13-3.69). This association appeared to be driven by the development of DQ-dnDSA. dnDSA are common after lung transplantation, with the majority being DQ DSA. DQ-dnDSA are associated with an increased risk of CLAD. Strategies to prevent or treat DQ-dnDSA may improve outcomes for lung transplant recipients.

Lung transplantation is a life-saving procedure for end-stage lung diseases. Size matching is critical in the donor-recipient selection process. This retrospective study analyzed 146 patients who underwent lung transplantation between 2013 and 2023. Patients who required graft resizing were assigned to the sizing group (S), non-resizing cases to the non-sizing group (NS). The primary goal was to identify predictive factors for graft resizing. Secondary endpoints included ischemia time, ventilation time, primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and hospital stay. The S group was further stratified on baseline parameters to assess differences in outcomes. Recipient height and single transplants were higher in the NS group. Donor-recipient height ratio was the only predictor for resizing (p = 0.02). Postoperative outcomes and overall survival were similar between the groups. In Group S, male patients showed higher rates of acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic rejection, the former being associated also with anatomical resections; patients older than 50 experienced higher rates of PGD. Graft resizing is a feasible strategy for addressing size mismatch, but it is associated with increased risks of PGD and AKI, particularly in older male recipients and those undergoing anatomical resections. These findings highlight the importance of careful preoperative donor-recipient size matching.

The pathogenesis of allograft (dys)function has been increasingly studied using ‘omics’-based technologies, but the focus on individual organs has created knowledge gaps that neither unify nor distinguish pathological mechanisms across allografts. Here we present a comprehensive study of human pan-organ allograft dysfunction, analyzing 150 datasets with more than 12,000 samples across four commonly transplanted solid organs (heart, lung, liver and kidney, n  = 1,160, 1,241, 1,216 and 8,853 samples, respectively) that we leveraged to explore transcriptomic differences among allograft dysfunction (delayed graft function, acute rejection and fibrosis), tolerance and stable graft function. We identified genes that correlated robustly with allograft dysfunction across heart, lung, liver and kidney transplantation. Furthermore, we developed a transfer learning omics prediction framework that, by borrowing information across organs, demonstrated superior classifications compared to models trained on single organs. These findings were validated using a single-center prospective kidney transplant cohort study (a collective 329 samples across two timepoints), providing insights supporting the potential clinical utility of our approach. Our study establishes the capacity for machine learning models to learn across organs and presents a transcriptomic transplant resource that can be employed to develop pan-organ biomarkers of allograft dysfunction. A comprehensive analysis of omics data from biopsies and blood samples from more than 12,000 cases of heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants provides insights into shared mechanisms of allograft dysfunction across organs.