New procedure to treat acid reflux can prevent chronic rejection in lung ... - News-Medical.net

A Loyola University Medical Center study suggests that a procedure to treat acid reflux could help prevent chronic rejection in lung transplant patients.

The study also found that certain proteins found in lung fluid can help predict whether a patient's transplanted lung is more likely to fail.

Results are published in the July, 2013 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Authors are P. Marco Fisichella, MD, FACS (first author), Christopher S. Davis, MD, MPH; Erin Lowery, MD, MS; Luis Ramirez, BS; Richard L. Gamelli, MD, FACS and Elizabeth J. Kovacs, PhD.

Lung transplant patients have the worst survivals of all solid organ transplant recipients. A major reason is bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a condition in which scar tissue forms around small airways in the lungs. BOS results from chronic rejection of the transplanted lung, and affects about half of lung transplant patients within five years.

Following lung transplantation, patients undergo a procedure every few months to inspect the airways. The procedure, called a bronchoscopy, removes fluid from the lung.

Loyola researchers analysed various biomarkers taken from lung fluid during bronchoscopies. Researchers found that, in patients examined 6 to 12 months after transplant, concentrations of certain biomarkers could predict the likelihood of BOS 30 months after transplant. For example, patients with high concentrations of the biomarker myeloperoxidase and low concentrations of the biomarker α-1 antitrypsin were more likely to develop BOS.

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