Hemoptysis in lung transplant recipients: a series of 15 cases.
OBJECTIVE
Respiratory complications are frequent after lung transplantation (LTx), and many of these complications have the potential to cause hemoptysis. However, surprisingly, only a few isolated cases of hemoptysis have been reported in LTx recipients. Here, we describe a series of patients who underwent LTx at our center who developed hemoptysis during their postoperative course.


METHODS
A tertiary care university hospital.


RESULTS
Of 197 LTx recipients, hemoptysis developed in 15 over a 16-year period. The pulmonary circulation as well as the systemic circulation were involved in the mechanism of hemoptysis. Six patients had moderate or minimal hemoptysis, while nine patients had life-threatening hemoptysis, which occurred during the first year after LTx in all cases. Active necrotizing ischemic airway injury was present in five of the nine patients with life-threatening hemoptysis. Eight of those nine patients died as a result of hemoptysis. Overall, hemoptysis was the cause of death in 4.5% of patients who underwent LTx at our institution.


CONCLUSIONS
In our series of transplant patients, hemoptysis was not rare and was associated with a high rate of mortality.
Plantier
Laurent
L
Service de Pneumologie, Hôpital Beaujon, 92110 Clichy, France.
Mal
Hervé
H
Brugière
Olivier
O
Castier
Yves
Y
Taillé
Camille
C
Lesèche
Guy
G
Fournier
Michel
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006469:Hemoptysis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome