Pulmonary complications of renal transplantation other than pulmonary edema

Abstract

Pulmonary Complications of Renal Transplantation Other Than Pulmonary Edema Purpose To evaluate radiographic and CT findings of pulmonary complications of renal transplantation other than pulmonary edema.

Materials and methods Review of medical records revealed 393 patients who had undergone renal transplantation in our hospital for the last 10 years. Among them, 23 patients with pulmonary complications other than pulmonary edema were included in this study. Complications included were infection caused by CMV (n=6), bacteria (n=4), fungus (n=4), tuberculosis (n=2), varicella (n=1), or chlamydia (n=1) and malignancy including lung cancer (n=4) and Kaposi's sarcoma (n=1). Two chest radiologists reviewed conventional chest radiographs and chest CT scans.

Result Complications mainly manifested as pulmonary nodules were lung cancer (4/4), tuberculosis (1/2), and Kaposi's sarcoma (1/1). Pulmonary consolidation was a main feature in bacterial infection (4/4), fungal infection (3/4), tuberculosis (1/2), chlamydia infection (1/1), and varicellar pneumonia (1/1). Ground-glass attenuation was a main CT feature in CMV pneumonia (3/6). Increased interstitial marking was a predominant CT feature in CMV pneumonia (2/6).

Conclusion CT findings of pulmonary complications of renal transplantation are similar to those of other organ transplantation.