Salvage Therapy With Mycophenolate Mofetil for Lung Transplant Bronchiolitis Obliterans

BACKGROUND: Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is the most important long-term complication of lung transplantation. Treatment of this condition is often unsuccessful. METHODS: A patient presented with early BO. Despite OKT3 and the addition of methotrexate, the patient needed persistently high doses of prednisone to maintain lung function at a moderate level. Only the substitution of azathioprine by mycophenolate mofetil (MMF, 3 g/day) made it possible to reduce the dose of prednisone. RESULTS: Reduction of the dose of MMF to 2 g/day resulted in a deterioration of lung function, which improved impressively after MMF was increased again to 3 g/day. CONCLUSIONS: MMF may be a valuable therapy for lung transplant BO. However, the use of a high dose, i.e., 3 g/day, may be crucial.