Trends over Time in Practice and Outcomes of Lung Transplantation in Recipients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus

People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at an increased risk for end-stage lung disease, for which lung transplantation (LT) may be necessary.

We aimed to characterize the national practice patterns of LT in recipients with HIV (HIV R+) and post-LT outcomes, including rejection in the US over time. Using the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data (from January 1, 2004, to December 1, 2024, for practice patterns and from January 1, 2016, to December 1, 2024, for outcomes), we compared 96 adult HIV R+ to 42 341 LT recipients without HIV (HIV R-). We examined the association between HIV and outcomes using Gini coefficients, Cox regression, and modified Poisson regression before and after 2020.

HIV R+ LTs increased from 0.1% in 2004 to 0.4% of LTs in 2024 (p = 0.07). Pre-2020, 18 centers performed 80% of HIV R+ LTs (Gini = 0.78); post-2020, 14 centers performed 80% of HIV R+ LTs (Gini = 0.76), indicating no expansion of the practice across centers. HIV R+ did not have an increased risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio pre-2020: 0.91 [95% confidence interval 0.41-1.62], p = 0.7 and post-2020: 1.05 [0.49-3.25], p = 0.8), or increased risk of 1-year rejection rate (adjusted relative risk pre-2020: 0.60 [0.20-1.77], p = 0.3, and post-2020: 0.77 [0.26-2.2], p = 0.6).

Increasing numbers of HIV R+ LTs and comparable outcomes to those without HIV are encouraging, yet few centers perform these transplants.