Influence of gender donor-recipient combinations on survival after human lung transplantation

In the current practice of lung transplantation, donor and recipient genders are neither directly considered nor matched. However, some data have suggested a possible effect of gender combinations on survival following lung transplantation.

A total of 249 adult lung transplant recipients at a single center between February 1988 and December 2008, were analyzed retrospectively for donor-recipient gender matching. We compared the mortality by calculating one-term survival rates after transplantation using the Kaplan-Meier method with comparisons using the log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. Statistical significance of the mean effects of size matching was assessed by paired Student t tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests.

Kaplan-Meier survival analysis shown that male compared to female recipients did not have an effect on outcomes after lung transplantation at 5 years (P=.5379), 10 years (P=.107), 15 years (P=.0841), 20 years (P=.0711). No effect of gender on lung transplantation outcomes was observed with donor-recipient gender mismatches at 5 years (P=.1804), 10 years (P=.1457), 15 years (P=.0731), or 20 years (P=.0629). Similarly, no differences were observed for each gender combination. The degree of size matching was defined as the ratio of donor-to-recipient predicted total lung capacity. The ratios were similar for the donor-recipient gender match and significantly different for the donor-recipient gender mismatch.

These analyses suggested that gender was not a significant independent risk factor affecting survival after lung transplantation. Size mismatch caused by gender mismatch did not increase mortality.