Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is a clinical manifestation of ischemic-reperfusion injury (IRI) and the most important cause of early morbidity and mortality after lung and heart transplantation. 1,2 Furthermore, in spite of advances in immunosuppression, acute cellular rejection (ACR) remains a common complication after lung and heart transplantation. 3,4 The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) created a standardized definition and grading system for PGD after heart transplantation in 2014. 2 Similarly, the ISHLT developed a definition for PGD after lung transplantation in 2005 and subsequently refined the criteria in 2016. 5,6 The standardization of PGD definitions has provided a more consistent approach for scoring PGD and created a platform to evaluate potential risk factors. 7,8 The pathogenesis of PGD represents both inflammatory and ischemia-reperfusion-related mechanisms. 9 Although new mechanistic insights of ACR have been recently reported, especially after lung transplantation, 10 there has been little work examining the influence of donor factors. Brain death is associated with systemic inflammatory responses characterized by the release of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, which could lead to allograft injury. 11 Abstract Background: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and acute cellular rejection (ACR) are important causes of early morbidity and mortality following lung and heart transplantation. While many studies have elucidated donor-related risk factors of PGD and ACR, these complications often occur even with "ideal" donors. Therefore, we investigated potential associations of PGD and ACR between bilateral lung and heart transplant recipients from the same multiorgan donor, respectively. Methods: Between 2011 and 2017, 100 donors contributed 100 bilateral lung transplants and 100 heart transplants performed. Logistic regression analysis for PGD and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis for ACR were used to estimate the relationship of heart and lung transplants.Results: The incidence of PGD was 33% among lung and 17% among heart transplant recipients. Similarly, the incidence of ACR grade ≥ A2 for lung recipients was 38% (30/80), and the incidence of ACR grade ≥ 2R for heart recipients was 19% (15/80).There was no association between the development of PGD and ACR in lung and heart transplant recipients from the same donor, respectively.Conclusions: These findings suggest that inherent donor factors are not critical to the development of PGD and ACR after lung and heart transplantation.
K E Y W O R D Sacute, donation after brain death (DBD), donors and donation, organ procurement, rejection