Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 7, 2026
Lung Rapid Recovery Procurement Combined with Abdominal Normothermic Regional Perfusion in Controlled Donation after Circulatory Death
Published on: August 15, 2022
Demographic differences in complication and failure to rescue rates following lung transplantation
Boateng Kubi1, Ruby Singh1, Elsayed Elsafy2
1Division of Cardiac Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Background:
We evaluated the association between race/ethnicity and failure to rescue (FTR) following lung transplantation.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 34,184 patients undergoing primary lung transplantation (2006-2024). Race/ethnicity was categorized as non-Hispanic White (81.3%), non-Hispanic Black (9.5%), and Hispanic (9.1%). The primary outcome was FTR. Logistic regression identified predictors of FTR, while Cox proportional hazards models assessed the association between race/ethnicity and outcomes.
Results:
Black patients experienced the highest rates of postoperative complications (26.3%) compared to non-Hispanic White (17.9%) and Hispanic patients (19.6%) (p < 0.001). Mortality rate was also highest among Black patients (6.8%) compared to White (5.0%) and Hispanic patients (4.8%) (p <0.001). However, race/ethnicity was not independently associated with FTR. Risk factors for FTR included dialysis at transplant (OR 2.05, 95% CI: 1.28-3.29, p=0.003), double lung transplant (OR 1.30, 95% CI: 1.09-1.56, p=0.004), and prolonged ischemic time (OR 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02-1.08, p=0.001).
Conclusions:
While Black patients experienced higher complication and mortality rates, race/ethnicity was not independently linked to FTR after lung transplantation.
