Evaluation of the International Society for Heart Transplantation (ISHT) grading of pulmonary rejection in 100 consecutive biopsies.
Heart-lung and lung transplantation are accepted treatments for patients with end-stage pulmonary vascular disease or parenchymal lung disease. Survival rates for heart-lung and lung transplantation are lower than those for heart transplantation alone. The 5-year actuarial survival for heart-lung transplantation has been 41% largely due to rejection and infection remaining as the limiting factors for long-term survival. A standardized nomenclature for the histological grading of pulmonary rejection was formulated by the International Society for Heart Transplantation (ISHT) in July 1990. Infection, however, is a major problem in the histological assessment of lung recipient biopsies, potentially limiting the usefulness of such a classification. In this study, 100 consecutive transbronchial biopsies (TBBs) from lung transplant recipients were analysed, together with microbiological and serological data, in order to evaluate the proposed ISHT grading system for pulmonary rejection and the importance of concomitant infections in the histological interpretation of TBBs.
Hunt
J
J
Department of Pathology, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
Stewart
S
S
Cary
N
N
Wreghitt
T
T
Higenbottam
T
T
Wallwork
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001980:Bronchi / Q000473:pathology*; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000473:pathology*; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000473:pathology*; D016041:Heart-Lung Transplantation / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology; D012955:Societies, Medical