S. Diederich et al., RADIOLOGICAL FINDINGS IN LUNG TRANSPLANTA TION, RoFo. Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Rontgenstrahlen und der neuenbildgebenden Verfahren, 161(6), 1994, pp. 475-483
Lung transplantation (single-lung transplantation, double-lung transpl
antation or heart-lung transplantation) may be the only effective ther
apy in end-stage pulmonary disease. At specialized institutions it has
been performed on a routine basis for some years now. Diagnostic imag
ing plays an important role in the assessment of potential recipients
as well as for the postoperative evaluation after transplantation. The
aim of this review is to describe the role of imaging procedures of t
he chest in these patients and to demonstrate characteristic plain rad
iographic and computed tomographic findings. Normal postoperative find
ings specific to lung transplant patients as well as typical. Complica
tions are presented. These include reimplantation response, acute and
chronic rejection, and the typical bacterial, viral, and fungal infect
ions as well as the sequelae of transbronchial biopsy.