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Feb. 5 - Study Finds Good Outcomes for Older Lung Transplant Patients

A new UCLA Medical Center study shows that select patients age 65 and older can safely undergo lung transplantation and have acceptable outcomes. The findings are reported in the February issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Since 1999, UCLA has been one of the few transplant centers in the country to offer lung transplants to patients 65 and older who were otherwise healthy candidates for the procedure.

The study reviewed records of UCLA patients who received lung transplants between March 2000 and September 2006. During this period, 50 transplant surgeries were performed on 48 patients between the ages of 65 and 72. A group of 50 patients younger than 65 were matched to the older cohort for comparison purposes.

Survival rates for both groups were similar. The early survival rate of the older patients was 95.7%, compared with 95.9% for the younger cohort. The one-year survival rate was 79.7% for the older group and 91.2% for the younger, and the three-year survival rate was 73.6 for the older group and 74.2% for the younger.

Researchers found that older patients were more likely to receive single-lung transplants (76%, compared with 16% for the younger group) and to receive nonstandard lungs (46%, compared with 28%). Nonstandard lungs are those considered "less than perfect" but still acceptable for transplantation.

The study's findings suggest that the increased mortality rate among older patients during the period from one month to one year following transplantation — due predominantly to infection — may result from immunosenescence, the gradual deterioration of the immune system with age.

Source: UCLA Healthcare

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