An unusual cause of respiratory failure in a 25-year-old heart and lung transplant recipient

Sarah Narotzky, Cassie Colleen Kennedy, Fabien Maldonado

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

A 25-year-old woman, a never smoker with a history of heart-lung transplantation for World Health Organization group 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension performed 20 months prior to presentation, was evaluated for shortness of breath. Following transplantation, she was initiated on standard therapy of prednisone, tacrolimus, and azathioprine, along with routine antimicrobial prophylaxis. Her posttransplant course was complicated by persistent acute cellular rejection, as determined from a transbronchial biopsy specimen, without evidence of rejection in an endomyocardial biopsy specimen. The immunosuppressive medications were supplemented with pulse-dosed steroids, and the patient was transitioned from azathioprine to mycophenolate mofetil. Sirolimus was added 9 months prior to presentation. Three months prior to presentation, she was admitted for increasing oxygen requirements, shortness of breath, and bilateral infi ltrates on the CT scans of the chest.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)e185-e188
JournalChest
Volume147
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

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