Incidence and risk factors of anastomotic complications after lung transplantation

Background: Anastomotic complications are common after lung transplantation (1.4–33% of cases) and still associated with a high morbi-mortality. Methods: The current study is a monocenter retrospective analysis of symptomatic anastomotic complications (SAC) occurring after lung transplantation between 2010 and 2016, using the macroscopic, diameter, and suture (M-D-S) classification from consensus of French experts in bronchoscopy. The objectives were to determine incidence from surgery, risk factors, and impact of survival of SAC. We defined SAC as M-D-S abnormalities (stenosis ⩾ 50% or dehiscence) requiring bronchoscopic or surgical interventions. Results: A total of 121 patients were included. SAC occurred in 26.5% of patients ( n = 32), divided in symptomatic stenosis for 23.7% ( n = 29), and symptomatic dehiscence in 2.5% ( n = 3). In multivariate analysis, donor bacterial lung infection [HR 2.08 (1.04–4.17), p = 0.04] and age above 50 years [HR 3.26 (1.04–10.26), p = 0.04] were associated with SAC occurrence. Cystic fibrosis etiology was associated with better survival on Kaplan–Meier curve ( p