The Role of Pre-bone Marrow Transplantation Pulmonary Function Test in Predicting Post-transplant Noninfectious Pulmonary Complications

Amani S Ahmed; Roaa S Gassas; Mohamed E Ahmed; Ghaya Osman; Ahmed S Alsaeed; Ahmed N Absi; Sameer M Alamoudi; Majed D Alahmadi; Manar M Khalil; Saleem K ElDadah; Ihab Y Hemaidi; Walaa A Rajkhan

doi:10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_65_23

The Role of Pre-bone Marrow Transplantation Pulmonary Function Test in Predicting Post-transplant Noninfectious Pulmonary Complications

Saudi J Med Med Sci. 2023 Oct-Dec;11(4):339-344. doi: 10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_65_23. Epub 2023 Oct 6.

Authors

Amani S Ahmed¹, Roaa S Gassas¹, Mohamed E Ahmed^{2

3}, Ghaya Osman¹, Ahmed S Alsaeed^{1

2}, Ahmed N Absi^{1

2}, Sameer M Alamoudi^{1

2}, Majed D Alahmadi^{1

2}, Manar M Khalil¹, Saleem K ElDadah^{1

2}, Ihab Y Hemaidi^{1

2}, Walaa A Rajkhan^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Adult Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplant Section, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
² College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Basic Sciences, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary function test (PFT) is used as a tool for pre-transplant risk assessment and as a predictor of post-transplant outcomes. As there are currently few studies that discuss the role of PFT in bone marrow transplantation (BMT) patients in Saudi settings, and as the number of transplant patients with benign and malignant conditions continues to increase, this study was conducted with the aim of assessing the local practice.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all adult patients who underwent BMT at Princess Noorah Oncology Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, between 2014 and 2020. The association between established patient-related risk factors and the incidence of pulmonary complications among autologous and allogeneic groups was assessed.

Results: A total of 186 patients were included (autologous = 143; allogenic = 43), of which 115 (61.8%) were male. At the pre-BMT phase, about 30% of the patients had comorbidities and 51% had received two rounds of salvage chemotherapy, while 16.1% had received radiation therapy. In the autologous group, the only PFT parameter that was a significant predictor of post-BMT pulmonary complications was forced vital capacity <80% (P = 0.012), while in the allogenic group, no parameter was significantly associated with pulmonary complications. The patient-related factors that were associated with respiratory distress in the autologous group were lung involvement (P = 0.03) and pre-transplant radiation (P = 0.044).

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that forced vital capacity <80% was a significant factor in predicting non-infectious complications in the autologous group. Furthermore, lung involvement and pre-transplant radiation were the patient-related factors associated with pulmonary complications.

Keywords: Bone marrow transplantation; Saudi Arabia; complications; forced expiratory volume; pulmonary function test; respiratory distress; treatment outcome.