Imaging of Lung Transplantation: Review

Yuen Li Ng, Narinder Paul, Demetris Patsios, Anna Walsham, Tae-Bong Chung, Shaf Keshavjee, Gordon Weisbrod

OBJECTIVE Lung transplantation is an established treatment for end-stage pulmonary disease. Complications of lung transplan­tation include airway stenosis and dehiscence, reimplanta­tion response, acute rejection, infection, posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder, and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. The incidence of graft rejection and airway anastomosis experienced in the early years of lung trans­plantation have been significantly reduced by advances in immunosuppression and surgical techniques. Infection is currently the most common cause of mortality during the first 6 months after transplantation, whereas chronic rejec­tion or obliterative bronchiolitis is the most common cause of mortality thereafter. This article reviews the radiologic findings of different surgical techniques as well as the com­mon early and late complications of lung transplantation.