Cytokine profile after lung transplantation: correlation with allograft injury.

Background: Post-lung transplant reperfusion edema (PLTRE) and its more severe form, primary graft failure (PGF), occur in 10% to 60% of lung transplant recipients. We hypothesized that PLTRE and PGF would be associated with an elevated proinflammatory cascade and that the allograft would be the source of cytokine appearance in the circulation.

Methods: Pulmonary arterial and systemic arterial samples were obtained at baseline and at 4, 8, and 24 hours after reperfusion.