Risk factors for lung diseases after renal transplantation

Lung diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality after renal transplantation. The aim of the study is to define the risk factors for infectious and noninfectious pulmonary complications in kidney transplant patients.

We prospectively studied 267 patients after renal transplantation. The kidney recipients were followed-up for the development of pulmonary complications for a period of 7 years. Different noninvasive and invasive diagnostic tests were used in cases suspected of lung disease.

The risk factors associated with the development of pulmonary complications were diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR] = 4.60; P = 0.001), arterial hypertension (OR = 1.95; P = 0.015), living related donor (OR = 2.69; P = 0.004), therapy for acute graft rejection (OR = 2.06; P = 0.038), immunosuppressive regimens that includes mycophenolate (OR = 2.40; P = 0.011), azathioprine (OR = 2.25; P = 0.023), and tacrolimus (OR = 1.83; P = 0.041). The only factor associated with the lower risk of complications was a positive serology test for Cytomegalovirus of the recipient before transplantation (OR = 0.1412; P = 0.001).

The risk factors can be used to identify patients at increased risk for posttransplant lung diseases. Monitoring of higher-risk patients allow timely diagnosis and early adequate treatment and can reduce the morbidity and mortality after renal transplantation.