Supplementary Material for: Pulmonary Rehabilitation Outcomes after Single or Double Lung Transplantation in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Interstitial Lung Disease

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) following
lung transplantation (LTx) has been shown to be effective with regard to
exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQL). However,
outcome data is limited with respect to LTx as a population. Differences
concerning the effects of PR in patients with single LTx (SLTx) or
double LTx (DLTx) have not been studied yet. Objectives: The aim was to compare possible differences concerning PR outcomes between SLTx and DLTx. Methods:
In a retrospective analysis (period: 1997-2016), data from 722 patients
with either chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; SLTx: n = 129, FEV1 51 ± 17% pred.; DLTx: n = 204, FEV1 74 ± 20% pred.) or interstitial lung disease (ILD; SLTx: n = 135, FVC 58 ± 18% pred.; DLTx: n
= 254, FVC 63 ± 18% pred.) after LTx were included. All patients
underwent a specialized inpatient PR program. The data of the 6-minute
walk distance (6MWD) and HRQL (physical [PCS] and mental [MCS] component
summary of the SF- 36 questionnaire) were analyzed. Results: Independently from the procedure and pretransplant diagnosis, patients significantly (p
< 0.05) improved the 6MWD without any differences between SLTx and
DLTx (COPD: SLTx: +109 ± 68 m, DLTx: +117 ± 82 m; ILD: SLTx: +115 ± 80
m, DLTx: +132 ± 77 m). The PCS (COPD: SLTx: +9 ± 9 points, DLTx: +7 ± 9
points; ILD: SLTx: +6 ± 9 points, DLTx: +9 ± 9 points) and MCS (COPD:
SLTx: +8 ± 15 points, DLTx: +7 ± 15 points; ILD: SLTx: +10 ± 13 points,
DLTx: +8 ± 12 points) also improved significantly without any group
differences. Conclusions: LTx patients with a
pretransplant diagnosis of COPD or ILD all benefitted significantly and
with clinical relevance with regard to exercise capacity and HRQL from
an inpatient PR performed within 1 year postoperatively. PR outcomes
were similar regardless of SLTx or DLTx.