Impact of donor chest radiography on clinical outcome after lung transplantation

Background Organ donation guidelines recommend a “clear” conventional bedside chest radiograph before lung transplantation despite only moderate accuracy for cardiopulmonary abnormalities. Purpose To evaluate the influence of donor image interpretation on lung transplantation outcome in recipients by following early and late complications, one-year survival, and to correlate imaging findings and blood gas analysis with lung transplantation outcome in recipients. Material and Methods In 35 lung donors from a single institution clinical reports and study reviews of imaging findings of the mandatory bedside chest radiographs and blood gas analyses were compared with clinical outcome in 38 recipients. Hospitalization time, peri- and postoperative complications, early complications (primary graft dysfunction, infection), 30-day and one-year survival, and forced expiratory volume in 1 s percentage of predicted normal value (FEV1%) at one-year follow-up were analyzed. Results Findings in clinical reports and study reviews differed substantially, e.g. regarding reported decompensation, edema, infection, and atelectasis. No correlation was shown between imaging findings in clinical report or study review and blood gas analyses in the lung donors compared to postoperative outcome in recipients. Conclusion The interpretation of the mandatory chest radiograph in its present form does not influence one-year outcome in lung transplantation. Larger imaging studies or a change in clinical routine including computed tomography may provide evidence for future guidelines.