Introduction 

Postoperative follow-up of lung transplantation by spirometry is crucial since decreased FEV1 is associated with increased mortality and chronic graft dysfunction. In Single- Lung Transplantation (SLT), where two lungs with different elastic properties coexist, the assessment of FEV1 with spirometry is inaccurate. Therefore, electrical impedance tomography (EIT), by assessing lung volumes regionally, may be able to measure the FEV1 of each lung separately.

Aims and Objectives

The study aimed to assess FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC of each lung in patients with SLT, and to compare them with spirometry.

Methods

Case series of 3 patients with SLT : COPD, emphysema/fibrosis and interstitial lung disease (ILD). EIT (Pulmovista V500) was used to measure the lung impedance, and compared it with the volume and expiratory flow of spirometry.

Results 

In the patient with COPD, the FEV1, FVC and regional FEV1/FVC of the native (NL) and transplanted (TL) lung were 0.84lts/1.45lts /0.58, and 0.73lts/1.84lts/0.40 respectively. The percentage of predicted FEV1 of TL (FEV1%TL) measured by EIT was 62.4% vs 59% measured by spirometry (FEV1%).

The patient with emphysema/fibrosis FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC of NL and TL were 0.98lts/1.86lts/0.53 and 1.11lts/2.56lts/0.43 FEV1%TL and FEV1% were 62.8% and 66% respectively.

The FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC dell NL and TL were 1.17/1.3/0.9 and 1.45/1.63/0.89 in patients with ILD. The FEV1%TL and FEV1% were 65.4 % and 73% respectively. 

Conclusion

The EIT allowed determining the volumes and regional flows of each lung in the 3 patients with TLS, overestimating VEf in emphysema/fibrosis and ILD, and underestimating it in COPD