Dr. Peri Husen, Editorial Fellow, Transplantation
Incidentally Detected Malignancies in Lung Transplant Explants
Amratia DA, Hunt WR, Neujahr D, et al.
Transplantation Direct: November 2019 - Volume 5 - Issue 11 - doi: 10.1097/TXD.0000000000000947
In this article, Amratia and coworkers assess the outcome of patients undergoing lung transplantation with incidental malignancies found upon explantation of their lungs. As active malignancy remains an absolute contraindication for lung transplantation, incidental findings of malignancy in explanted lungs at the time of transplantation have been described in the literature. The population of lung transplant recipients is at high risk for developing malignancy. However, radiologic findings may be missed due to parenchymal changes of lung architecture in this population. In this study, unexpected neoplasms were found in 9 / 407 (2.2%) of patients with initial lung transplantation. Most cases were found to have localized disease of mainly adenocarcinoma. Patients with localized primary NSCLS had a 3-year survival of 54.4%. These findings as well as the assessment of post-transplant outcome was analyzed and reflected by a thorough literature review of the authors. Overall, this article highlights a rather rare but interesting event with crucial clinical importance.
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