A team of UPMC researchers found that patients with coronary disease can safely undergo lung transplantation, according to a peer-reviewed article in Clinical Transplantation. Of 656 lung transplant recipients in the study, 324 had documented coronary disease, including 106 with obstructive coronary disease; however, outcomes in the patients with coronary disease, even obstructive coronary disease, were not significantly different than outcomes in patients with no trace of coronary disease. “There is a perception that patients with coronary artery disease are poor candidates for a lung transplant,” according to cardiologist Suresh Mulukutla, MD. “Our data suggest that these patients are able to safely undergo lung transplant with reasonably good outcomes, even if they have advanced coronary disease that requires coronary intervention.”
Khandhar SJ, Althouse AD, Mulukutla S, Kormos R, Toma C, Marroquin O, Volz E, Tefera L, Bermudez C. Post-operative Outcomes and Management Strategies for Coronary Artery Disease in Patients in need of a Lung Transplantation. Clin Transplant 2017; 31(9). PMID: 28658533