Purpose: To determine the frequency and computed tomographic (CT) findings of recurrence of the primary disease after lung transplantation at six North American lung transplantation centers.
Materials and methods: Medical records of 1,394 lung transplant recipients were reviewed to identify patients with recurrent primary disease. Their CT scans and pathologic specimens were reviewed.
Results: The frequency of disease recurrence in the six transplantation centers was 1% (15 of 1,394 patients), including six previously reported cases. Sarcoidosis recurred in nine (35%) of 26 transplants and was the most common disease to recur. Three (33%) of nine patients with recurrent sarcoidosis had correlative findings at CT. When present, CT findings were usually different at recurrence compared with pretransplantation CT findings.
Conclusion: A relatively small percentage of patients are at risk for recurrence of primary disease following lung transplantation. Sarcoidosis is the most common disease to recur.