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Original Articles: General Thoracic

Decortication After Lung Transplantation

^a Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
^b Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
^c Department of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio

Accepted for publication October 30, 2007.

^_* Address correspondence to Dr Mason, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue/Desk F24, Cleveland, OH 44195 (Email: masond2{at}ccf.org).

Background: Compromise of a pulmonary allograft by restrictive or infectious pleural-space pathology may be amenable to surgical intervention; however, the role of decortication in this patient population has not yet been substantiated. To address this issue, indications and outcomes of decortication after lung transplantation were examined at our institution.

Methods: From February 1990 to December 2006, 553 patients underwent lung transplantation; postoperative decortications were performed 27 times in 24 patients (4.3%).

Results: Indications for decortication included presumed empyema (15), loculated effusion (7), hemothorax (3), and fibrothorax (2). Decortication was performed at a median of 81 days after transplantation (range, 12 days to 7.8 years). Complete lung reexpansion was achieved after 19 of 27 decortications (70%). Infection was cleared from the pleural space in 9 of 15 empyema patients (64%). Survivals at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after decortication were 85%, 73%, 65%, and 60%, respectively. Operative mortality (30-day or in-hospital) was 23%, and median length of stay was 19 days.

Conclusions: Decortication may alleviate the compromise of a transplanted lung by restrictive or infectious pleural-space disease, but operative risk is substantial.