• Saeed Akram, Imran Yaqoob Nizami, Mohamed Hussein, Waleed Saleh, Mohammed Said Ismail, Khaled AlKattan, and Muhammad Shaheryar Ahmed Rajput.
• From the Organ Transplant Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2019 Jul 1; 39 (4): 221228221-228.

BackgroundLung transplantation has become a standard of care for a select group of patients with advanced lung diseases. Lung transplantation has undergone rapid growth in the last few years in Saudi Arabia.ObjectiveDescribe five years of experience with lung transplantation.DesignRetrospective, descriptive.SettingsMajor tertiary care hospital.PatientsAll patients who underwent lung transplant surgery between 2010 to 2015.Main Outcome MeasuresIndications for lung transplant demographics, body mass index, blood group, type of transplant surgery, morbidity rate using the Clavien-Dindo classification, rate of early- and late-onset bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), bronchiolitis obliterans-free survival, 30- and 90-day mortality rate, and survival (30 days, 90 days, 1-year, 3-years and 5-years) for lung transplant recipients. The duration of mechanical ventilation, colonization by bacteria and need for lung volume reduction surgery for lung donors.Sample Size80, 45% women and 55% men.ResultsThe most common indication for lung transplant in Saudi Arabia is pulmonary fibrosis (45%), followed by non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (25%) and cystic fibrosis-related bronchiectasis (20%). Only 45% of our lung transplant recipients had a normal BMI (18-28 kg/m2). The most frequent blood group was A (40%), followed by blood group O (32.5%). Most (85%) lung transplants were bilateral while 15% were single lung transplants. Postoperative complications developed in 64 patients, 34 (42.5%) had minor grade 1 complications, while 13 (16.5%) had severe complications leading to death (grade V). Early onset BOS developed in 6 (7.5%) patients while 16 (20%) had late onset BOS. The BOS-free survival rate was 72.5%. The mean duration of mechanical ventilation in lung donors was 9 days and most were infected by bacteria. The majority of recipients required lung volume reduction. The 30-day mortality rate was 12.5% and the 90-day mortality rate was 17.5%. Survival rates at our center were 87.5% at 30 days, 82.5% at 90 days, 81.2% at 1 year, 67.9% at 2 years and 62.1% at 5 years.ConclusionsLung transplantation has become an invaluable approach for the treatment of end-stage respiratory disease. Our 5-year experience has shown exciting promises for lung transplantation in Saudi Arabia.LimitationsRetrospective design, single center experience.Conflict Of InterestNone.

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