LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACT: Lung transplantation in cystic fibrosis patients in Israel: The importance of ethnicity and nutritional status

Background: Lung transplantation is the last resort therapeutic option for end-stage lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF). Aims: To evaluate the national Israeli experience with lung transplantation for patients with CF at Rabin Medical Center (RMC). To assess the characteristics that correlates with better outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of all CF patients who underwent lung transplantation between 1996-2014 at RMC. Results: Fifty CF patients underwent 54 lung transplantations between 1996-2014. Twenty-four were male (48%). Age at transplantation was 28.3±9.1 years (11-50 years). Eighteen patients (36%) died during the study period. For the whole group actuarial survival was 83%, 68%, 62% and 39% at 1, 3, 5 and 10 years respectively. Better survival correlated with: FEV1%>60% at 6 months post transplantation (p Freedom from BO was 87%, 75% and 72% at 1, 3 and 5 years respectively. BO was more common in Arab than the Jewish population (p=0.012). Longer time without BO correlated with: Male gender (p=0.039), Jewish compared to Arab ethnicity (p=0.007), older age (p Conclusions: Our survival and freedom from BO rates are similar the registry of the ISHLT 2014. BMI 1 year post transplantation is an important determinant of survival and longer time without BO. Arab ethnicity was correlated with higher incidence and earlier appearance of BO.