Bilateral Sequential Lung Transplantation for a case with Respiratory Failure due to Lymphagioleiomyomatosis / 대한흉부외과학회지

ABSTRACT

Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis is a chronic destruct8ive disease of the lung affecting women of childbearing ages which eventually leads to respiratory failure. Lung transplantation is the only conclusive therapeutic measure because this disease responds poorly to other therapies, To date only a few reports in the literature describes the clinical experience of the bilateral sequential lung transplantation of this rare condition. We performed a bilateral sequential lung transplantation on a 32-year-old woman suffering from lymphangioleiomyo-matosisw. The heart-lung block was harvested from a 51-year-old donor. We transplanted the left lung first through the clam-shell incision. As the hemodynamics deteriorated suddenly during the dissection of the right lung the right lung was transplanted under the cardio-pulmonary bypass. Although the patient's lung function was initially satisfactory the patient died of sepsis and subsequent cardiogenic shock at the postoperative 18th day. Autopsy findings showed infection of Candida albicans on the pericardium and the left lung which had been initiated possibly from the left bronchial anastomosis site,. Through detailed review of the clinical course we concluded that lung transplantation could have been performed safely on this disease provided that early diagnosis and proper management or the opportunistic infection have been carried out.