Overall survival rates of lung transplantation have improved since the first human lung transplantation was performed. A decline in the incidence of airway complications (AC) had been a key feature to achieve the current outcomes. Several proposed risk factors to the development of airway complications have been identified, ranging from the surgical technique to the immunosuppressive regimen. There are essentially six different airway complications post-lung transplantation. The most frequently reported complication is bronchial stenosis. Other complications include bronchial dehiscence, exophytic excessive granulation tissue formation, tracheo-bronchomalacia, bronchial fistulas, and endobronchial infections. The management of post-transplant bronchial complications needs a multispecialty team approach. Prevention of some complications may be possible by early and aggressive medical management as well as by using certain surgical techniques for transplantation. Interventional bronchoscopic procedures, including balloon bronchoplasty, cryotherapy, laser photoresection, electrocautery, high-dose endobronchial brachytherapy, and bronchial stents are among the armamentarium. Also, medical management, like antibiotic prophylaxis and therapy for endobronchial infections, or noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation in case of bronchomalacia, are used to treat an AC. In some cases, different surgical approaches are occasionally required. In this article we review the risk factors, the clinical presentation, the diagnostic methods, as well as the management options of the most common AC after lung transplantation.
Relative to measures of pulmonary function and hypoxia, altered pulmonary hemodynamics had a greater impact on 6MWD in patients with IPF. Higher mPAP was associated with more significant exercise impairment. Mild abnormalities in pulmonary hemodynamics (so called 'Pre-PH') were associated with reduced 6MWD.
Tracheal or bronchial-mediastinal fistulas are a rare entity associated to high mortality. We report a case of a 58-year-old man with an unresectable non-small cell carcinoma of the lung, treated with chemoradiation followed by bevacizumab. Approximately, 6 weeks after starting bevacizumab he developed a severe cough with copious secretions He could not lie supine due to the feeling of drowning. Investigations revealed a large tracheo-mediastinal-parenchymal-pleural fistula. Palliative management was offered with interventional bronchoscopic techniques. He was found to have a large central airway defect that obliterated almost 40% of the trachea. Under general anesthesia and positive pressure ventilation, a unique approach was used to rebuild an eroded tracheal and right main stem bronchial wall. A self-expanding metallic stent (SEMS) was placed to provide a scaffold of support, whereas a Dumon Y-stent was placed inside the SEMS. This combination allowed for a patent, stable airway; recreating the normal anatomy in a minimally invasive manner walling off the fistula. The patient was discharged 2 days after the bronchoscopic intervention, with significant palliation of his symptomatology. Eighteen months later, the upper lobe cavity persists with a stable airway and stents perfectly positioned with clinically insignificant evidence of stent related granulation in the upper trachea.
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