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

Management of pharmacotherapy in lung transplant candidates

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Lung transplantation is a common treatment for end-stage lung disease (ESLD). Patients present to lung transplantation evaluation on various medications that could impact their candidacy and posttransplant course. In this review, we will discuss pretransplant optimization of pharmacotherapy to minimize complications while waiting for transplant and increase posttransplant success. We will also discuss important considerations for posttransplant immunosuppression, antimicrobial prophylaxis, and complex drug interactions.

RECENT FINDINGS

Prior to lung transplantation, several medications should be optimized to promote posttransplant success including minimization of corticosteroids, opioids, and benzodiazepines. Lung transplantation candidates should be up to date on vaccinations. Most medications for ESLD are well tolerated to continue up until the point of transplant including antifibrotics, CFTR modulators, and pulmonary vasodilators. Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors and other immunosuppressants may need to be stopped or minimized before lung transplantation to minimize posttransplant infection and would healing complications. Medications that increase risk of posttransplant bleeding, thrombosis, or aspiration should be stopped prior to listing.

SUMMARY

In this article, we discuss management of pharmacotherapy for lung transplantation candidates to minimize posttransplant complications. Changes in medications for ESLD should be done cautiously to prevent worsening of native disease while waiting for lung transplantation.

Brazilian Thoracic Association recommendations for the management of lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare disease, characterized as a low-grade neoplasm with metastatic potential that mainly affects women of reproductive age, in which there is proliferation of atypical smooth muscle cells (LAM cells) and formation of diffuse pulmonary cysts. It can occur in a sporadic form or in combination with tuberous sclerosis complex. In recent decades, a number of advances have been made in the understanding of the pathophysiology and management of LAM, leading to improvements in its prognosis: identification of the main genetic aspects and the role of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway; relationship with hormonal factors, mainly estrogen; characterization of pulmonary and extrapulmonary manifestations in imaging studies; identification and importance in the diagnosis of VEGF-D; a systematic diagnostic approach, often without the need for lung biopsy; use of and indications for the use of mTOR inhibitors, mainly sirolimus, for pulmonary and extrapulmonary manifestations; pulmonary rehabilitation and the management of complications such as pneumothorax and chylothorax; and the role of and indications for lung transplantation. To date, no Brazilian recommendations for a comprehensive approach to the disease have been published. This document is the result of a non-systematic review of the literature, carried out by 12 pulmonologists, a radiologist, and a pathologist, which aims to provide an update of the most important topics related to LAM, mainly to its diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up, including practical and multidisciplinary aspects of its management.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis and pregnancy: a mini-review

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis(LAM) is a slow progressive, rare cystic lung disease in women of reproductive age, associated with infiltration of the lung by atypical smooth muscle like cells, leading to the cystic destruction of the lung parenchyma. As LAM exclusively affects women of childbearing age, it can arise or exacerbate during pregnancy. Many patients with LAM are discouraged from pregnancy, although there is not much objective evidence effect on fertility. Patients diagnosed with LAM during pregnancy experience worse outcomes, so the safety of pregnancy is a vexing problem. What was worse, treatment strategies are limited on the effects of LAM on pregnancy outcomes. Pregnancy could be considered in LAM patients. Successful delivery in women with LAM depends on the condition of the LAM, which is in turn dependent on obstetricians and respiratory physicians. In this review, we describe the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical features and the treatment strategies of LAM during pregnancy.

The impact of early perioperative heparin-free anticoagulation for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation on bleeding and thrombotic events in lung transplantation: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Perioperative heparin-free anticoagulation extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for lung transplantation is rarely reported.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of a heparin-free strategy on bleeding and thrombotic events, blood transfusion, and coagulation function during the early perioperative period and on prognosis, and to observe its effect on different ECMO types.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

METHODS

Data were collected from 324 lung transplantation patients undergoing early perioperative heparin-free ECMO between August 2017 and July 2022. Clinical data including perioperative bleeding and thrombotic events, blood product transfusion, coagulation indicators and 1-year survival were analysed.

RESULTS

Patients were divided in venovenous (VV; n = 251), venoarterial (VA; n = 40) and venovenous-arterial (VV-A; n = 33) groups. The VV group had the lowest intraoperative bleeding and thoracic drainage within 24 h postoperatively. Vein thrombosis occurred in 30.2% of patients within 10 days postoperatively or 1 week after ECMO withdrawal, and no significant difference was found among the three groups. Double lung transplantation, increased intraoperative bleeding, and increased postoperative drainage were associated with vein thrombosis. Except for acute myocardial infarction in one patient, no other serious thrombotic events occurred. The VV-ECMO group had the lowest demand for blood transfusion. The highest prothrombin time and the lowest fibrinogen levels were observed in the VA group during ECMO run, while the highest platelet counts were found in the VV group. Both intraoperative bleeding and thoracic drainage within 24 h postoperatively were independent predictors for 1-year survival, and no thrombosis-related deaths occurred.

CONCLUSION

Short-term heparin-free anticoagulation, particularly VV-ECMO, did not result in serious thrombotic events or thrombosis-related deaths, indicating that it is a safe and feasible strategy for perioperative ECMO in lung transplantation.

Outpatient Pharmacologic Management of Lung Transplant Candidates on the Waiting List

The medical care of patients awaiting lung transplantation is complex and requires the treatment of active medical conditions, including lung disease, while at the same time maintaining candidacy for transplantation. Some medications that would otherwise be considered routine may create undesirable challenges or complications in the perioperative setting. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of the risks and benefits of these medications must take into account both their potential utility in managing a patient's current disease state, as well as the risks of compromising postlung transplant outcomes. In this review, we summarize the available data regarding several medications that are commonly used to treat patients with a variety of lung diseases, but that may impact a patient's course on the waiting list or in the posttransplant period.