Donor's long-term quality of life following living-donor lobar lung transplantation

Introduction: Living-donor lobar lung transplantation is an alternative procedure to deceased donation lung transplantation. It involves graft donation from healthy donors; however, only a few reports have discussed its long-term prognosis in living lung donors and their associated health-related quality of life. This study aimed to examine living lung donors’ health-related quality of life. Methods: In our cross-sectional survey of living lung donors, we assessed health-related quality of life-based on three key aspects (physical, mental, and social health) using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. We also evaluated chronic postoperative pain and postoperative breathlessness using the numeric rating scale and the modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea scale, respectively. Results: We obtained consent from 117 of 174 living lung donors. The average scores of the living lung donors on the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey were higher than the national average. However, some donors had poorer physical, mental, and social health, with lower summary scores than the national averages. Low mental component summary predictors included donor age (<40 years; odds ratio = 10.2; p <.001) and recipient age (<18 years; odds ratio = 2.73; p <.032). Low role-social component summary predictors included high lung allocation score (≥50; odds ratio = 3.94, p <.002) and recipient death (odds ratio = 3.64; p =.005). There were no predictors for a physical component summary. Additionally, many donors did not complain of pain or dyspnea. Conclusions: Living lung donors maintained an acceptable long-term health-related quality of life after surgery. Potential donors should be informed of relevant risk factors, and high-risk donors should receive appropriate support.