Characteristics of candidates for lung transplantation due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency emphysema.

INTRODUCTION: COPD and emphysema due to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) are the first and fourth indications for lung transplantation worldwide, respectively. Despite this, there is little information regarding the health status of these patients at the time of transplantation. METHODS: Patients who received a lung transplant in the Hospital Vall d'Hebron between July 1993 and August 2013 were identified and data from the evaluation prior to the transplant were collected. RESULTS: A total of 217 patients who received a lung transplant for COPD and 19 in whom the indication was AATD were included. These patients were severely impaired at the time of the evaluation for lung transplantation, although the trend in recent years has been to evaluate patients at earlier stages of the disease. Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups except that patients with AATD were younger [43 (7.7) vs. 53.6 (6.1) years old, P<.001], with less exposure to tobacco [23.9 (15) vs. 50 (29) packs-year, P<002] and lower PCO2 [41.7 (7.6) vs. 47.9 (9.7) mmHg, P<.004]. CONCLUSIONS: The number of patients receiving a lung transplant for COPD has progressively increased and the tendency is to perform the evaluation in earlier stages of the disease. Patients receiving transplants for COPD and AATD had similar characteristics at the time of the evaluation, although AATD patients were younger and had less exposure to tobacco and lower PCO2.