Detecting Acute Lung Rejection and Infection Following Heart-Lung Transplantation: ANALYSIS
The records of home spirometry and histologic findings of transbronchial biopsy specimens over the six-month period were reviewed. All the values of FEV, and FVC recorded every day by each patient were plotted against time and dates of TBB, both routine and on the occurrences of histologically diagnosed pulmonary rejection or infection, using a microcomputer (Tandon) (Fig 2).
The change in FEV, or FVC with rejection or infection was defined as the difference in the immediately preceding stable recording and that recorded on a day before the time of the TBB. The normal value for each patient was defined by the stable spirometric value corresponding to the time of routine TBB that showed normal appearances histologically.
Figure 2. Profile of home FEV, and FVC recording in a 51-year-old heart-lung transplant recipient. Arrows indicate the times of transbronchial biopsy. The histo-logic findings at biopsy are indicated by the following letters: R, acute rejection; I infection; and N, normal. Treatment was instituted with steroid therapy for rejection and appropriate antimicrobials for infection after each biopsy.
Significance of changes in spirometry was tested using the unpaired Student t test. cialis professional online
