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. 2022 Sep;9(3):149-159.
doi: 10.1007/s40472-022-00365-2. Epub 2022 Apr 21.

The Intersection of Aging and Lung Transplantation: its Impact on Transplant Evaluation, Outcomes, and Clinical Care

Brittany Koons  1 , Michaela R Anderson  2 , Patrick J Smith  3 , John R Greenland  4   5 , Jonathan P Singer  6
Affiliations

The Intersection of Aging and Lung Transplantation: its Impact on Transplant Evaluation, Outcomes, and Clinical Care

Brittany Koons et al. Curr Transplant Rep. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: Older adults (age ≥ 65 years) are the fastest growing age group undergoing lung transplantation. Further, international consensus document for the selection of lung transplant candidates no longer suggest a fixed upper age limit. Although carefully selected older adults can derive great benefit, understanding which older adults will do well after transplant with improved survival and health-related qualiy of life is key to informed decision-making. Herein, we review the epidemiology of aging in lung transplantation and its impact on outcomes, highlight selected physiological measures that may be informative when evaluating and managing older lung transplant patients, and identify directions for future research.

Recent findings: In general, listing and transplanting older, sicker patients has contributed to worse clinical outcomes and greater healthcare use. Emerging evidence suggest that measures of physiological age, such as frailty, body composition, and neurocognitive and psychosocial function, may better identify risk for poor transplant outcomes than chronlogical age.

Summary: The evidence base to inform transplant decision-making and improvements in care for older adults is small but growing. Multipronged efforts at the intersection of aging and lung transplantation are needed to improve the clinical and patient centered outcomes for this large and growing cohort of patients. Future research should focus on identifying novel and ideally modifiable risk factors for poor outcomes specific to older adults, better approaches to measuring physiological aging (e.g., frailty, body composition, neurocognitive and psychosocial function), and the underlying mechanisms of physiological aging. Finally, interventions that can improve clinical and patient centered outcomes for older adults are needed.

Keywords: Aging; Body composition; Frailty; Lung transplantation; Neurocognitive function; Psychosocial function.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Brittany Koons, Michaela Anderson, Patrick Smith, and Jonathan Singer have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. John Greenwood has served on advisory boards for Boehringer Ingelheim, Theravance Biopharma, and Atara Bio-therapeutics and has received research funding from Thermo Fisher Scientific, BioFire Diagnostics, and Theravance Biopharma.

References

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