Women who receive a lung transplant are more likely than men to live for five years post-transplant, according to new research on Thursday.
However, women are less likely to receive a lung transplant and spend an average of six weeks longer on the waiting list, according to a study published in ERJ Open Research.
The researchers encourage changes in regulation and clinical guidelines to address this inequality.
“It is important to understand that people on the waiting list for a transplant have a very poor quality of life, sometimes they are not well enough to leave their house, and have a high risk of death,” said lead researcher Dr Adrien Tissot from Nantes University Hospital, France.
Lung transplantation is the only treatment for people with end-stage respiratory failure and patients on the waiting list have a high risk of death.
A transplant can restore normal lung function, giving patients an improved life expectancy and higher quality of life.
The study included 1,710 participants – 802 women and 908 men – who were being cared for at one of France’s 12 transplantation centres between 2009 and 2018.
Patients were followed-up for around six years after transplantation. The main underlying diseases affecting patients were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis and interstitial lung disease.
Dr Tissot’s research found that women wait 115 days for a lung transplant on average versus 73 days for men.
Notably, after transplantation, survival was higher for women than men with 70 per cent of female recipients still alive five years after transplantation, compared to 61 per cent of male recipients.
The researchers also found that most women received a donor lung that was matched by sex and height.
According to researchers, clinicians, patients and policy makers must acknowledge this gender difference as it’s essential for appropriate action to be taken.
