ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) has increased the number of lung donors significantly. The use of abdominal normothermic regional perfusion (A-NRP) during organ procurement is a common practice in some centers due to its benefits on abdominal grafts. This study aimed to assess whether the use of A-NRP in cDCD increases the frequency of bronchial stenosis in lung transplant (LT) recipients. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective study including all LTs was performed between January 1, 2015, and August 30, 2022. Airway stenosis was defined as a stricture that leads to clinical/functional worsening requiring the use of invasive monitoring and therapeutic procedures. RESULTS: A total of 308 LT recipients were included in the study. Seventy-six LT recipients (24.7%) received lungs from cDCD donors using A-NRP during organ procurement. Forty-seven LT recipients (15.3%) developed airway stenosis, with no differences between lung recipients with grafts from cDCD (17.2%) and donation after brain death donors (13.3%; P = 0.278). A total of 48.9% of recipients showed signs of acute airway ischemia on control bronchoscopy at 2 to 3 wk posttransplant. Acute ischemia was an independent risk factor for airway stenosis development (odds ratio = 2.523 [1.311-4.855], P = 0.006). The median number of bronchoscopies per patient was 5 (2-9), and 25% of patients needed >8 dilatations. Twenty-three patients underwent endobronchial stenting (50.0%) and each patient needed a median of 1 (1-2) stent. CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of airway stenosis is not increased in LT recipients with grafts obtained from cDCD donors using A-NRP.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disorder in which airflow is obstructed. Viral or bacterial upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) may lead to exacerbations. Homeopathic medication administration to COPD patients during the influenza-exposure period may help to reduce the frequency of common URTIs. METHODS: This prospective, observational, multicenter study was carried out in Cantabria, Spain. Patients with COPD were divided into two groups: group 1 received conventional treatment + homeopathic medication (diluted and dynamized extract of duck liver and heart; Boiron) (OG); group 2 received conventional treatment only (CG). The primary endpoint was the number of URTIs between the 4-5 months follow up (mean 4.72 ± 0.96) from basal to last visit. Secondary endpoints included the duration of URTIs, number and duration of COPD exacerbations, use of COPD drugs, changes in quality of life (QoL), compliance, and adverse events (AEs). RESULTS: 219 patients were analyzed (OGâ¯=â¯109, CGâ¯=â¯110). There was a significant reduction in mean number of URTIs during the follow-up period in OG compared to CG (0.514⯱â¯0.722 vs. 1.037⯱â¯1.519, respectively; pâ¯=â¯0.014). Logistic regression analysis showed a 3.3-times higher probability of suffering ≥2 URTI episodes in CG (pâ¯=â¯0.003, nâ¯=â¯72). OG patients having ≥1 URTI also had a significant reduction in mean URTI duration per episode (3.57⯱â¯2.44 days OG vs. 5.22⯱â¯4.17 days CG; pâ¯=â¯0.012). There was no significant difference in mean number of exacerbations, mean duration of exacerbations, or QoL between OG and CG. There was a greater decrease in proportion of patients using corticosteroids for exacerbations between baseline and visit 2 in OG compared to CG (22.1% vs. 7.5% fewer respectively, pâ¯=â¯0.005). Exacerbator phenotype patients had a significant decrease in number of URTIs (0.54⯱â¯0.72 vs. 1.31⯱â¯1.81; pâ¯=â¯0.011), and fewer COPD exacerbations (0.9⯱â¯1.3 vs. 1.5⯱â¯1.7; pâ¯=â¯0.037) in OG vs. CG, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Homeopathic medication use during the influenza-exposure period may have a beneficial impact at reducing URTIs' number and duration in COPD patients and at reducing the number of COPD exacerbations in patients with the exacerbator phenotype. Further studies are needed to confirm the effects observed in this study.
