2020 Volume 55 Issue 3 Pages 271-276
【Objective】 To scrutinize the status of lung transplantation in Japan, the Japanese Society of Lung and Heart-Lung Transplantation started to collect and present registry data from 2005. This is the 16th official registry report of Japanese lung transplantation.
【Design and Methods】 The data for cadaveric lung transplantation and living-donor lobar lung transplantation performed by the end of 2019 were registered in the database and analyzed with respect to the number of transplants, recipient survival rates, recipient functional and working statuses, and causes of death after transplantations. Survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method.
【Results】 A total of 526 cadaveric lung transplantation (276 single, 250 bilateral), 234 living-donor lobar lung transplantation and 3 heart-lung transplantation procedures were performed by the end of 2019. Five-year and 10-year survival rates of cadaveric lung transplantations were 71.2% and 58.9 %, which were superior to those in the international registry. Five-year and 10-year survival rates of living-donor lobar transplantations were similar to those of cadaveric lung transplantation, with 73.6% and 61.9%. The recipients of 3 heart-lung transplantations are alive. The functional status of more than 80% of recipients was restored to a mMRC scale grade of 0 or 1 after transplantations. Infection has been the leading cause of death after lung transplantation. The number of deaths from chronic lung allograft dysfunction, malignancy and post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disease have been increasing in recent years.
【Conclusion】 The outcomes of Japanese lung transplantation are so far satisfactory. The modified Japanese transplantation law has been enforced since July 2010, and an increase in the number of cadaveric organ transplantations was achieved thereafter. The Japanese Society of Lung and Heart-Lung Transplantation will continue to present annual reports of Japanese lung transplantations.
