Baseline characteristics of all patients and stratified by era
| Characteristics | n | All (n=284) | 1987–2000 (n=48) | 2001 to 2010 (n=84) | 2011 to 2020 (n=152) | P value |
| Age at transplantation (years) | 284 | 55 (48–60) | 52 (44–55) | 54 (46–59) | 56 (51–61)††††,* | <0.0001 |
| ≥ 60 years (n, %) | 72 (25.4) | 2 (4.2) | 19 (22.6)†† | 51 (33.6)†††† | 0.0002 | |
| ≥ 50 years (n, %) | 202 (71.1) | 27 (56.3) | 53 (63.1) | 122 (80.3)†††,** | 0.0009 | |
| ≥ 40 years (n, %) | 266 (93.7) | 40 (83.3) | 80 (95.2) | 146 (96.1) | 0.0054 | |
| Sex, male (n, %) | 284 | 200 (70.4) | 32 (66.7) | 60 (71.4) | 108 (71.1) | 0.8208 |
| Waiting time (days) | 255 | 135 (65–308) | 154 (58–286) | 131 (65–302) | 135 (65–338) | 0.9742 |
| Type of transplant (n, %) | 284 | <0.0001 | ||||
| Heart-lung | 2 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Single lung | 137 (48.2) | 45 (93.8) | 55 (65.5) | 37 (24.3) | ||
| Bilateral lung | 145 (51.1) | 3 (6.3) | 27 (32.1) | 115 (75.7) | ||
| Primary lung disease (n, %) | 284 | 0.0008 | ||||
| IPF | 186 (65.5) | 43 (89.6) | 53 (63.1) | 90 (59.2) | ||
| Fibrotic NSIP | 23 (8.1) | 0 (0.0) | 6 (7.1) | 17 (11.2) | ||
| CTD-ILD | 17 (6.0) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (4.8) | 13 (8.6) | ||
| CHP | 18 (6.3) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (4.8) | 14 (9.2) | ||
| Sarcoidosis | 21 (7.4) | 5 (10.4) | 10 (11.9) | 6 (3.9) | ||
| Others | 19 (6.7) | 0 (0.0) | 7 (8.3) | 12 (7.9) | ||
| Ex-smoker (n, %) | 245 | 139 (56.7) | 6 (50.0) | 58 (69.0) | 75 (50.3) | 0.0193 |
| Treatment at time transplant (n, %) | ||||||
| Prednisolone | 241 | 162 (67.2) | 10 (100.0) | 58 (71.6) | 94 (62.7) | 0.0303 |
| Antifibrotic agent | 242 | 26 (10.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 26 (17.3)**** | 0.0001 |
| Pirfenidone | 22 (9.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 22 (14.7) | ||
| Nintedanib | 4 (1.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (2.7) | ||
| Azathioprine | 241 | 53 (22.0) | 3 (30) | 26 (32.1) | 24 (16.0)** | 0.0155 |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 242 | 25 (10.3) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (4.9) | 21 (14.0) | 0.0500 |
| Cyclophosphamide | 242 | 7 (2.9) | 3 (27.3) | 2 (2.5)††† | 2 (1.3)†††† | <0.0001 |
| Methotrexate | 241 | 3 (1.2) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (2.5) | 1 (0.7) | 0.4673 |
| Comorbidities (n, %) | ||||||
| Pulmonary hypertension | 248 | 78 (31.3) | 4 (30.8) | 29 (34.9) | 45 (29.6) | 0.7006 |
| GERD | 250 | 55 (22.0) | 2 (14.3) | 9 (10.7) | 44 (28.9)** | 0.0041 |
| Essential hypertension | 248 | 32 (12.9) | 1 (7.7) | 9 (10.7) | 22 (14.6) | 0.5929 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 224 | 26 (11.6) | 0 (0.0) | 9 (11.1) | 17 (12.8) | 0.4697 |
| Coronary artery disease | 257 | 23 (8.9) | 1 (3.7) | 9 (11.3) | 13 (8.7) | 0.4853 |
| BMI (kg/m²)* | 249 | 26.9 (4.4) | 25.7 (5.2) | 27.2 (4.6) | 26.9 (4.3) | 0.5494 |
| eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m²)* | 243 | 91 (77–104) | 110 (91–139) | 84 (71–107)†† | 92 (80–102)† | 0.0117 |
| 6MWT (m)* | 245 | 275 (160–349) | 247 (163–376) | 240 (130–308) | 290 (175–370)** | 0.0043 |
| Pulmonary function test* | ||||||
| FEV1 (L) | 248 | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.4 (0.6) | 1.5 (0.6) | 1.7 (0.6)* | 0.0309 |
| FEV1 (% pred.) | 243 | 50.2 (16.6) | 42.2 (12.0) | 46.3 (16.4) | 52.9 (16.5)* | 0.0034 |
| FVC (L) | 248 | 1.9 (1.4–2.4) | 1.4 (1.2–2.2) | 1.8 (1.4–2.1) | 2.0 (1.5–2.5) | 0.0329 |
| FVC (% pred.) | 237 | 48.0 (38.0–58.0) | 43.0 (30.0–47.0) | 44.0 (36.0–55.0) | 50.0 (40.0–59.0) | 0.0187 |
| TLC (L) | 237 | 3.2 (2.6–4.0) | 3.5 (2.8–4.1) | 3.1 (2.5–4.0) | 3.2 (2.6–4.0) | 0.5795 |
| TLC (% pred.) | 232 | 49.0 (43.0–60.8) | 54.0 (42.8–72.5) | 49.0 (42.0–62.0) | 49.0 (43.0–60.0) | 0.5519 |
| TLCO | 214 | 2.5 (1.0) | 3.0 (1.1) | 2.6 (0.9) | 2.5 (0.9) | 0.1774 |
| TLCO (% pred.) | 207 | 28.0 (21.0–34.0) | 27.0 (23.3–37.5) | 30.0 (23.0–35.5) | 27.0 (20.0–34.0) | 0.2212 |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa culture positive (n, %) | ||||||
| Pretransplant sputum | 242 | 19 (7.9) | 1 (7.7) | 2 (2.4) | 16 (10.9) | 0.0747 |
| BAL at time of transplant | 250 | 5 (2.0) | 1 (6.7) | 1 (1.2) | 3 (2.0) | 0.3800 |
| Survival status (n, %) | 284 | |||||
| Alive | 98 (34.5) | 1 (2.1) | 16 (19.0) | 81 (53.3) | ||
| Dead | 186 (65.5) | 47 (97.9) | 68 (81.0) | 71 (46.7) | ||
| Median time of follow-up (years) | 284 | 3.2 (0.7–6.9) | 2.8 (0.1–9.6) | 5.8 (1.1–10.7) | 2.7 (0.9–4.8)*** | 0.0014 |
| Median time to death (years) | 2.4 (0.2–6.6) | 2.7 (0.1–9.1) | 4.1 (0.4–7.3) | 1.2 (0.2–3.4)* | 0.0098 | |
†Compared with 1987–2000, *compared with 2001–2010, †/* p<0.05, ††/** p<0.01, †††/*** p<0.001, ††††/**** p<0.0001). * Data at time of pre-transplant assessment.
Statistics are χ2 test for categorical variables and post hoc analysis with Bonferroni adjustment, and Kruskal-Wallis test for non-parametric groups with post hoc analysis with Dunn’s multiple comparison test.
Significant p-values are highlighted in bold.
BAL, bronchoalveolar lavage; BMI, body mass index; cHP, chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis; CTD-ILD, connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease; eGFR, estimated glomerulus filtration rate; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in one second; FVC, forced vital capacity; GERD, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease; IPF, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; 6MWT, 6 min walk test; NSIP, non-specific interstitial pneumonia; TLC, total lung capacity; TLCO, carbon monoxide diffusion capacity.