2018 Volume 53 Issue 4-5 Pages 257-261
Some patients with infectious lung diseases, including bronchiectasis, diffuse panbronchiolitis and cystic fibrosis, deteriorate despite long-term therapy with macrolide antibiotics, eventually requiring lung transplantation. We describe our experiences of lung transplantation for infectious lung diseases. Most of the patients with infectious lung diseases had airway colonization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa before lung transplantation. For the management of the patients with infectious lung diseases, control of rhinosinusitis with sinus surgery or continuous nasal care could be important in preventing fatal infection, the development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction, and the recurrence of diffuse panbronchiolitis after lung transplantation. The overall survival rates of the patients with infectious lung diseases were comparable to those of the patients with non-infectious lung diseases at our institution (5-year survival rate, 80.9% vs. 77.7%; 15-year survival rate, 60.7% vs. 57.5%) (p=0.44). Lung transplantation for the patients with progressive infectious lung diseases yielded favorable outcomes in the long term, quite comparable to the outcomes of lung transplantation for those with non-infectious lung diseases.
