Thoracic society, Nonprofit organization

Antifungal preventive medications reduce mortality risk by half in the first year following lung transplantation, according to new research.The new Mayo Clinic research involved 667 patients who received lung transplants from 2005 to 2018.The retrospective study, published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, is the largest ever to evaluate the effectiveness of antifungal preventive drugs in lung transplant recipients who are particularly susceptible to invasive fungal infections. These infections are associated with a nearly threefold increase in mortality for lung transplant recipients.Mayo Clinic researchers used deidentified administrative claims data from OptumLabs Data Warehouse. The study analysed data for adult patients who underwent a single or double lung transplant, or a concurrent heart-lung transplant, in the US between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2018. Of the 667 patients, 385, or 57.8 per cent, received antifungal treatment and 282, or 42.3 per cent, did not. Sixty-five patients died during the study, and all-cause mortality was significantly lower in those patients who received antifungal medications."Use of antifungal preventive medications in lung transplant patients is increasingly common, but no studies have established its efficacy," says Kelly Pennington, M.D., the study's first author. "This is the first study to demonstrate a mortality benefit associated with the use of antifungal prophylaxis in lung transplant patients. We still do not know which lung transplant patients receive the most benefit from these medications, and there are other unanswered questions that will require more research." Dr Pennington is a Mayo Clinic Scholar in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.A 2019 Mayo Clinic study found that 90% of U.S. transplant centres routinely prescribe antifungal preventive medications after lung transplant, but no prospective studies have established the benefits of these medications. "In our retrospective study, the risk of death within the first year posttransplant is about twice as high in patients not receiving antifungal preventive treatment, compared with those receiving treatment," says Dr Pennington.Itraconazole and voriconazole were the two most common antifungal preventive medications prescribed in the study. Patients who received antifungal drugs had a lower rate of fungal infections than those who did not, though the difference was not statistically significant.Protracted use of antifungal drugs can have negative health effects, including cardiomyopathy, skin cancer and liver dysfunction. Also, antifungal medications are expensive and can interact with other medications. Therefore, the health care team must monitor anti-fungal medications closely."Given the variation in practice among transplant centres, the potential for medication side effects, medication costs and risk of drug interactions, it was imperative to determine whether antifungal preventive medications are beneficial for lung transplant recipients," says Cassie Kennedy, M.D., senior author."Our finding of a significant reduction in mortality risk among lung transplant recipients who received antifungal medications is consistent with several prior studies in hematologic malignancies and bone marrow transplant patients." Dr Kennedy is a physician in Mayo Clinic's Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.( With inputs from ANI )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Home

City

Latest News

Cricket

LT Premium

National

International

Maharashtra

Opinions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Nagpur

Entertainment

Photos

Business

Technology

Sports

Lifestyle

Social Viral

Lokmat Games

Health

Lok Sabha Election 2024

Heatwave In India

Mumbai Water Cut

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election

IPL 2024

Salman Khan

Thoracic SocietyFOLLOW

Thoracic society, Latest News

Health :Statins may reduce heart disease in people with sleep apnoea: Study

New York, March 14 Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have the potential to reduce heart disease in people with ... ...

Health :Hospitalization during COVID-19 damages lungs: Study

Interstitial lung disease is known to cause severe lung damage. And as per a study published in the American ... ...

Health :Sleep apnea in pregnancy linked with increased post-delivery risk of hypertension: Study

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. A new study by researchers examined whether sleep disordered breathing (primarily obstructive sleep apnea) during pregnancy and in the years after del ...

Health :Use of e-cigarettes plus tobacco cigarettes linked to increased risk of respiratory symptoms: Study

A new research revealed that respiratory symptoms, such as cough and wheeze, are more likely to develop when people use both e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes together compared with using either one alone. ...

Health :Face masks unlikely to cause over-exposure to CO2, even in patients with lung disease

New research findings contradict statements linking wearing face masks to carbon dioxide poisoning by trapping CO2. ...

Technology :Antifungal preventive drugs reduce mortality risk following lung transplantation: Study

Antifungal preventive medications reduce mortality risk by half in the first year following lung transplantation, according to new research. ...