Lung transplantation for emphysema: only emphysema or something else?

Some studies have reviewed lung explants histology to determine the frequency of pretransplant non-identified neoplasms or explore its diagnostic correlation with a previous diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD). This study aims to review the histopathology of explants from patients who underwent lung transplantation (LT).

A retrospective, single-center study that included patients who underwent LT for emphysema between 01 January 2011 and 31 October 2021. The control group was composed of patients with lung cancer who underwent a lung resection between 01 November 2011 and 31 December 2019 and had a previous diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prior to lung resection surgery. A systematic review was performed of histological findings to compare the frequency of additional histological diagnoses.

The study sample included 160 patients (43.8%) who received a lung transplant for emphysema and 205 patients with COPD and lung cancer treated surgically. Although the patients in the cancer group were significantly older and had more comorbidities and higher cumulative tobacco consumption, transplant recipients received an additional significative histologic diagnosis more frequently (58.1% vs. 12.7%; P<0.001) including ILD, pneumoconiosis and others.

Significant additional histological findings were more frequent in the group of lung transplant recipients with emphysema. Notably, these findings were not explained by tobacco use, and they were significantly more frequent in transplant recipients than in patients with a previous diagnosis of COPD and higher cumulative tobacco consumption but with a better respiratory functional status.