Table 1.
Patient characteristics stratified according to high and low peripheral blood eosinophils.
| Low Blood Eosinophils (<8%) | High Blood Eosinophils (≥8%) | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients, n (%) | 274 (72.9%) | 102 (27.1%) | |
| Gender female, n (%) | 122 (44.5%) | 64 (62.7%) | 0.002 |
| Age, years, median (IQR) | 57 (47–61) | 55 (34.5–61) | 0.18 |
| Native disease, n (%) | 0.014 | ||
| Emphysema. α-1ATD | 153 (55.8%) | 50 (49%) | |
| CF/Bronchiectasis | 36 (13.2%) | 24 (23.5%) | |
| Pulmonary fibrosis | 56 (20.4%) | 15 (14.7%) | |
| PPH | 12 (4.4%) | 1 (1%) | |
| Other | 17 (6.2%) | 12 (11.8%) | |
| Type Tx, n (%) | 0.30 | ||
| SSL | 267 (97.4%) | 96 (94.1%) | |
| SSL + liver | 3 (1.1%) | 3 (2.9%) | |
| SSL + kidney | 1 (0.4%) | 0 | |
| HL | 3 (1.1%) | 3 (2.9%) | |
| Outcome, n (%) | 0.0002 | ||
| Alive | 236 (86.1%) | 69 (67.6%) | |
| Death | 33 (12.1%) | 28 (27.5%) | |
| Retransplantation | 5 (1.8%) | 5 (4.9%) | |
| Cause of death or retransplantation, n (%) | 0.048 | ||
| CLAD | 12 (31.6%) | 21 (63.6%) | |
| BOS | 7 (58%) | 7 (33.4%) | |
| RAS | 5 (42%) | 14 (66.6%) | |
| Infection | 11 (28.9%) | 3 (9.1%) | |
| Multifactorial | 6 (15.8%) | 4 (12.1%) | |
| Other (e.g., cancer) | 9 (23.7%) | 5 (15.2%) | |
| Number of biopsies per patient, median (IQR) | 6 (6–7) | 7 (6–8) | 0.0047 |
| Ever AR, n (%) | 82 (29.9%) | 38 (37.3%) | 0.21 |
| Ever severe AR (≥A2), n (%) | 37 (13.5%) | 21 (20.6%) | 0.11 |
| Mean AR score (St dev) | 0.077 (±0.14) | 0.11 (±0.21) | 0.15 |
| Ever LB, n (%) | 97 (35.4%) | 51 (50%) | 0.012 |
| Ever severe LB (≥B2), n (%) | 40 (14.6%) | 25 (24.5%) | 0.031 |
| Mean LB score (St dev) | 0.12 (±0.22) | 0.17 (±0.24) | 0.008 |
| Presence of DSAs, n (%) | 18 (6.6%) | 15 (14.7%) | 0.022 |
| Infection at peak eosinophilia, n (%) | 69 (25%) | 49 (48%) | <0.0001 |
| Meropenem at peak eosinophilia, n (%) | 19 (6.9%) | 33 (32.4%) | <0.0001 |
| WBC count at peak eosinophilia, median (IQR) | 5.58 (4.31–6.89) | 6.28 (3.56–7.84) | 0.65 |
| Abnormal WBC count at peak eosinophilia (<4 × 109/L), n (%) | 54 (20%) | 29 (28%) | 0.09 |
| Time to CLAD, median (IQR) | 2.6 years (1.0–4.0) | 2.1 years (1.0–3.8) | 0.51 |
| Time of follow-up, median (IQR) | 4.7 years (3.2–6.6) | 4.5 years (3.0–6.5) | 0.29 |
α-1ATD: alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency; CF: cystic fibrosis; PPH: primary pulmonary hypertension; Tx: transplantation; SSL: sequential single lung transplantation; HL: heart-lung transplantation; CLAD: chronic lung allograft dysfunction; BOS: bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome; RAS: restrictive allograft syndrome; AR: acute rejection; LB: lymphocytic bronchiolitis; DSAs: donor-specific antibodies; WBC: white blood cell. The term “ever” indicates whether or not the patients experienced at least one (severe) AR or LB episode during follow-up.