immune disorders
Lung and Heart Lung Transplantation
Complications
Transplantation can cause various Complications After Transplantation . The risk of infection is high after lung transplantation because of the following: The lungs are continually exposed to air, which contains bacteria and other microorganisms that can cause infections. Immunosuppressants, which are needed to help prevent rejection of the transplanted lung, make the body less able to defend against infections. The site at which the airway is attached sometimes heals poorly. Scar tissue may form, narrowing the airway, reducing air flow, and causing shortness of breath. Treatment of this complication consists of widening (dilating) the airway—for example, by placing a stent (a wire-mesh tube) in the airway to hold it open. Even if tissue types are closely matched, transplanted organs, unlike transfused blood, are usually rejected unless measures are taken to prevent rejection. Rejection results from an attack by the recipient's immune system on the transplanted organ, which the immune system recognizes as foreign material. Rejection can be mild and easily controlled or severe, resulting in destruction of the transplanted organ. Rejection of a lung transplant can be difficult to detect, evaluate, and treat. Doctors use a flexible viewing tube ( Bronchoscopy ) to periodically examine the airways and remove a sample of lung tissue. This procedure helps them identify rejection and check for infections. Most people who receive a lung transplant develop some symptoms of rejection within a month of transplantation. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, cough, and fatigue. Fatigue develops because the transplanted lung cannot provide enough oxygen to supply the body. In up to one half of people, symptoms of chronic rejection gradually develop more than a year after transplantation. In such cases, doctors usually detect scar tissue that has formed in the small airways and gradually blocked them. 