Empyema complicating successful lung transplantation.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence and etiology of empyema complicating successful lung transplantation.


METHODS
Retrospective review.


METHODS
University medical center transplant service.


METHODS
All recipients (n = 392) of single-lung, double-lung, and heart-lung transplantation between May 1984 and April 1997.


RESULTS
Of the 392 transplant recipients, empyema was documented in 14 patients (3.6%) at a mean time (+/- SD) of 46 days after transplantation (range, 14 to 167 days). Of these 14 recipients with empyema, 4 recipients (28.6%) died of infectious complications related to empyema. Empyema was seen secondary to Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and saprophytic organisms; however, there was no predominance of a particular organism recovered from the empyemic fluid (chi2 = 0.53; p = 0.75). The development of empyema was not related to whether the transplant was performed secondary to a septic or nonseptic lung disorder (chi2 = 1.06; p = 0.67), nor was it related to the type of transplant procedure performed (ie, single-lung, double-lung, or heart-lung allografts; chi2 = 4.39; p = 0.30).


CONCLUSIONS
Empyema, a relatively uncommon complication of lung transplantation, is not related to the type of allograft received or to whether the recipient had a septic or a nonseptic lung disorder. If empyema does occur, the mortality associated with this infection is substantial.
Nunley
D R
DR
Division of Transplantation Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. DDDNunley@aol.com
Grgurich
W F
WF
Keenan
R J
RJ
Dauber
J H
JH
D016724:Empyema, Pleural / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016041:Heart-Lung Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors