In 2016, 2692 candidates aged 12 years or older were added to the lung transplant waiting list; 2345 transplants were performed, the largest number of any prior year. The median waiting time for listed candidates in 2016 was 2.5 months, and waiting times were shortest for group D candidates. The transplant rate increased to 191.9 transplants per 100 waitlist years in 2016, with a slight decrease in waitlist mortality to 15.1 deaths per 100 waitlist years. Short-term survival continued to improve, with a 6-month death rate of 6.6% and a 1-year death rate of 10.8% among recipients in 2015 compared with 8.0% and 13.3%, respectively, among recipients in 2014. Long-term survival rates remained unchanged; 55.6% of recipients were alive at 5 years. In 2016, 23 new candidates aged 0-11 years were added to the waiting list and 16 lung transplants were performed. Incidence of posttransplant mortality for lung transplant recipients aged 0-11 years who underwent transplant in 2014-2015 was 13.8% at 6 months and 19.6% at 1 year. Changes in waitlist and transplant demographic features continued to evolve following implementation of the revised lung allocation score in 2015. Some early trends that may be attributable to the revised LAS are shorter waiting times, stabilization of the number of group D candidates listed for transplant, and convergence of LAS with lower prevalence of extremely high scores.
Keywords: LAS; End-stage lung disease; lung allocation score; lung transplant; organ allocation; revised lung allocation score; transplant outcomes.
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