Pulmonary Hypertension After a Lung Transplant Predicts RRT Need

LAS VEGAS—Pulmonary hypertension is a strong predictor of the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) after lung transplantation, according to researchers. Moreover, RRT is associated with significant in-hospital mortality.

Alaine Gada, MD, and colleagues at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio reviewed data from 657 lung transplant recipients. Of these, 40 (6%) required RRT. After adjusting for multiple variables, pulmonary hypertension was independently associated with a 6.4 times increased risk for needing RRT, the investigators reported at the National Kidney Foundation’s Spring Clinical Meetings. Thirty-four patients died during the post-operative period, 13 (32%) in the RRT group and 21 (3%) in the group not requiring RRT.

In addition, after adjusting for race, age, type of lung transplant, pulmonary hypertension, pre-transplant diabetes, and baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate, the need for post-transplant RRT independently predicted a 2.8 times increased risk for in-hospital death.