How does BMI impact the success of lung transplants in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients? Researchers investigate.
In patients with CF, lower preoperative BMI was linked to lower likelihood for BMI recovery within 1 year of lung transplant, but those who achieved BMI recovery within 1 year after transplant had improved survival, researchers reported.
“Poor nutritional status as measured by BMI is an independent risk factor for pre-transplant death in advanced CF lung disease and low BMI is an indication for early referral to a lung transplant center,” Joseph B. Pryor, MD, professor in the department of general internal medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues wrote in Annals of the American Thoracic Society. “Underweight status has been shown to be common in advanced CF lung disease, with one study demonstrating BMI <18.5 kg/m2 in 42% of cystic fibrosis transplant recipients.”
The retrospective cohort study included 1,977 lung transplant recipients with CF from the United Network for Organ Sharing and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation patient registries from June 2005 to December 2016. Researchers compared posttransplant 1-year conditional survival between recipients who survived 1 year or longer with low (< 17 and 17-18.49 kg/m2) and normal ( 18.5 kg/m2) preoperative BMI. This was stratified by BMI recovery.
