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Working After Lung Transplantation Abstract. Whether patients return to work after a successful lung transplant depends on various factors. The best predictive factor for employment after transplantation is the employment status before transplantation. Currently, there is no internationally standardized procedure regarding the questions of when and according to what criteria patients should be reintegrated into the working environment after lung transplantation. The risk of infection at the workplace/during the work activity should definitely be assessed before resuming work: a detailed work history is mandatory, an additional workplace inspection a further option. Advice should be based on the medical literature and general recommendations, and psychosocial factors must also be taken into account. In case of ambiguities, an interdisciplinary discussion is recommended.

Lung transplantation is an established therapy for advanced lung disease. Among the common disease indications for lung transplantation, patients with interstitial lung disease, in particular, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), have the worst prognosis. Thus referral to a transplant center should ideally be realised at the time of diagnosis of usual interstitial pneumonitis (UIP), regardless of lung function, in order to carry out a through initial assessment and evaluation.

Bronchiectasis is the term used for irreversibly dilated airways. Exact epidemiological information on the frequency of bronchiectasis is not available, but the morphological findings are increasingly detected and the associated syndrome is more frequently diagnosed due to improved imaging techniques and increased awareness among chest physicians. The workup of these patients includes a wide panel of investigations guided by patient history and clinical presentation. Despite thorough evaluation the aetiology frequently remains unclear. Chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with a severe course of the disease and its detection has impacts on the therapeutic management. Chest physiotherapy, mucoactive substances and antibiotics are the mainstay of therapy. In this review the evaluation of bronchiectasis and the recent therapeutic insights for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis are discussed., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)