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. 2025 Aug;39(8):e70206.
doi: 10.1111/ctr.70206.

Travel Practices and Associated Risks in Adult Thoracic Transplant Recipients: A Monocentric Survey

Benoît Henry  1   2 , Aurélie Garraffo  1   2 , Paul-Henri Consigny  3 , Claire Rouzaud  1   4 , Fanny Lanternier  1   2   5 , Pierre Frange  2   6   7 , Ngoc-Tram To  8 , Pierre Buffet  1   2   3   9 , Benoît Pilmis  4 , Shahid Husain  10 , Elie Fadel  4   11   12 , Jérôme Le Pavec  4   11   12 , Olivier Lortholary  1   2   5
Affiliations

Travel Practices and Associated Risks in Adult Thoracic Transplant Recipients: A Monocentric Survey

Benoît Henry et al. Clin Transplant. 2025 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Little is known regarding the travel practices of thoracic organ transplant recipients and their potential associated morbidity.

Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to thoracic organ transplant recipients to capture demographics, risk perception, knowledge regarding vaccination, history of travel outside metropolitan France, pre-travel advice, health issues during travel outside Europe, and travel intentions in the following year. Comparisons were performed between travelers and non-travelers through univariable then multivariable logistic regression.

Results: 134 patients completed the survey (72% lung, 11% heart, and 17% heart-lung transplant recipients). Twenty-four percent considered themselves at moderately to significantly increased risk of travel-related health issues. Sixty-two patients (47%) had traveled outside metropolitan France. Among 29 subjects who had traveled outside Europe, 22 had received pre-travel advice. Among 62 respondents who had traveled outside metropolitan France, 6 (10%) experienced health issues (all outside Europe), which led to consultation in three cases and hospitalization in one case. Among 117 respondents, 68 (58%) intended to travel within the following year, and 57 (84%) to seek medical advice before departure, predominantly from their transplant physician. In multivariable analysis, being a lung transplant recipient and higher education level were associated with travel outside Europe. The time post-transplantation was longer for all types of travel, when compared to non-travelers.

Conclusions: Almost half of adult thoracic transplant recipients had traveled outside metropolitan France, 22% outside Europe, and 10% of travelers experienced health issues. The suboptimal preparation of these patients underlines the potential benefits of closer interaction between travel medicine specialists and transplant physicians.

Keywords: heart transplantation; heart–lung transplantation; lung transplantation; organ transplantation; travel medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Destinations of 62 thoracic transplant recipients reporting having traveled outside metropolitan France post‐transplantation. The color code is based on the number of trips reported, considering that several respondents reported traveling to multiple countries. Countries in gray: No travel activities reported.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Intention to travel within the following year in 58 thoracic transplant recipients. Countries in gray: No travel intentions reported.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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