Premium
Lung transplantation for patients with end‐stage Sauropus androgynus ‐induced bronchiolitis obliterans (SABO) syndrome
Author(s) -
Luh SP,
Lee YC,
Chang YL,
Wu HD,
Kuo SH,
Chu SH
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
clinical transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1399-0012
pISSN - 0902-0063
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-0012.1999.130610.x
Subject(s) - medicine , bronchiolitis obliterans , transplantation , surgery , lung transplantation , respiratory failure , lung , pulmonary function testing , respiratory system
Sauropus androgynus (SA), a vegetable of the Euphorbiaceae family, is a common food source in Malaysia. In Taiwan, over 30 patients have developed progressive respiratory failure after consuming the extract from raw SA leaves as a means of losing weight. Symptoms consistent with a severe obstructive ventilatory defect progressed, despite cessation of SA intake and treatment with bronchodilators, corticosteroids, cytotoxic agents and plasmaphresis. Five patients with end‐stage Sauropus androgynus ‐induced bronchiolitis obliterans (SABO) syndrome underwent lung transplantation. There was no early mortality. One patient died of post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder and another patient died of bronchial stenosis with infection, 5 and 3.5 months, respectively, post‐transplantation. The remaining 3 patients have been followed from 29 to 34 months, with improved general condition and pulmonary function. Perfusion/ventilation scans revealed that these improvements were exclusively attributed to the functional grafts. We believe that lung transplantation is the only effective modality of treatment for patients with end‐stage SABO syndrome.