Long-term clinical follow-up after lung transplantation in patient with scoliosis: a case report

Severe scoliosis causes anatomical distortion of structures in the chest, which raises concerns about donor-recipient size-mismatch in lung transplantation (LT), so that severe scoliosis is considered as an absolute contraindication for LT. Also, postoperative right-side bronchial stenosis is one of the common complications in LT recipients with severe scoliosis. To date, the long-term outcomes in severe scoliosis patients with bronchial stenosis after LT have not been reported. A 14-year-old female patient with scoliosis and interstitial pneumonia underwent bilateral cadaveric LT. Although she developed bronchial stenosis post-LT, necessitating bronchoscopic intervention on three occasions, her lung function and perfusion recovered to the levels recorded prior to development of the obstruction, with the good condition maintained for more than 5 years after the LT. Therefore, while patients with severe scoliosis are at an elevated risk of postoperative transient bronchial stenosis, scoliosis should not always be considered as a contraindication to LT.