Single lung transplantation as treatment for end-stage pulmonary sarcoidosis: recurrence of sarcoidosis in two different lung allografts in one patient.

Three patients have undergone single lung transplantation in our hospital because of respiratory failure as a result of sarcoidosis. Two patients survived the postoperative period. Obliterative bronchiolitis developed in one of these patients, and recurrence of sarcoidosis in the transplanted lung necessitated contralateral single lung transplantation. Nine months later the first transplant became necrotic and infected and had to be removed. The postoperative course was uncomplicated. However, transbronchial biopsy specimens 10 months after retransplantation show sarcoid changes also in the second transplant, but without any signs of cellular rejection.