American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Aug 2020
Multicenter StudyRisk Factors for Acute Rejection in the First Year after Lung Transplant: A Multicenter Study.
Rationale: Acute rejection, manifesting as lymphocytic inflammation in a perivascular (acute perivascular rejection [AR]) or peribronchiolar (lymphocytic bronchiolitis [LB]) distribution, is common in lung transplant recipients and increases the risk for chronic graft dysfunction. Objectives: To evaluate clinical factors associated with biopsy-proven acute rejection during the first post-transplant year in a present-day, five-center lung transplant cohort. Methods: We analyzed prospective diagnoses of AR and LB from over 2,000 lung biopsies in 400 newly transplanted adult lung recipients. ⋯ In addition, Wilcoxon rank-sum analyses demonstrated bilateral (vs. single) lung recipients, and those with fewer than four (vs. more than four) HLA mismatches demonstrated reduced AR frequency and/or severity during the first post-transplant year. Conclusions: We found a high incidence of AR in a contemporary multicenter lung transplant cohort undergoing consistent biopsy sampling. Although not previously recognized, the finding of reduced AR in bilateral lung recipients is intriguing, warranting replication and mechanistic exploration.