Diagnosis and treatment of airway stenosis after lung transplantation / 中华器官移植杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the diagnosis and treatment of airway stenosis in a consecutive series of bronchial anastomosis after lung transplantation in our center.Methods We performed a retrospective study on 100 cases of lung transplants in our center from September 2002 to December 2010.Seventy-two cases were subjected to single lung transplants (SLT), and twenty-eight to bilateral sequential single lung transplantation (BSSLT). There were totally 128 bronchial anastomoses.All recipients received long-term follow-up to monitor the lung function.Lung CT and fibrobronchoscopic examinations were done when necessary. Results Twenty-five cases with 37 bronchial anatomoses were died.A total of 12 airway stenosis occurred in 10 cases (12/128,9.4 ％).Four cases underwent telescopic anastomosis and 6 cases underwent end-to-end anastamosis.Mean diagnosis time was 60.1 35.6 days post-operation (ranging from 15-120 days,median 59 days).There were 8 cases of unilateral airway stenosis (3 on the left,and 5 on the right) and 2 cases of bilateral airway stenosis.The number of simple airway stenosis was 3,that of exophytie granulation tissue was 8,and that of bronchus intermedius stenosis was 1.Culture of bacteria by fibrobronchoscopy with protected specimen brush revealed3 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa,2 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae,2 strains of Aspergillus,1 strain of Escherichia Coli. 10 cases were treated with fiberoptic bronchoscopic balloon dilation5 cases with high-frequency electrotome,4 cases with stent placement,and 1 case with argon plasma coagulation (APC).Seven cases were cured or improved and 3 cases died.Conclusion Airway stenosis after lung transplantation remains a major problem.The fiberoptic bronchoscopic procedure is the gold standard to diagnose. The preferred treatment is fiberoptic bronchoscopic balloon under expansion,and other approaches include high-frequency electrotome,APC and stem placement,etc.