Influence of Cytomegalovirus on the Survival of Cytomegalovirus-Seropositive Lung Transplant

•The incidence of cytomegalovirus events in the study sample was 36.8% despite routine 6-month prophylaxis.•In patients with positive cytomegalovirus serology, the development of cytomegalovirus events, including severe cases, does not seem to influence survival.•In the present sample, cytomegalovirus is not a cause of death in any of the patients.•The incidence of chronic lung allograft dysfunction is not increased by the presence of cytomegalovirus events. The primary aim of this study was to analyze the survival of patients undergoing lung transplant (LT) with cytomegalovirus (CMV)-positive serologies at the time of transplantation, according to the presence of CMV events and according to the severity of these events. The secondary objective was to assess whether there are differences in the incidence of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) according to the presence of these events. This was an observational, single-center, retrospective study. The inclusion criterion for the study was having undergone LT at the Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre from October 2008 to February 2019. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. The incidence of CLAD was compared using the χ2 test. Inclusion criteria were met by 239 LTs. In terms of survival, no difference was found between patients with and without CMV events (log-rank P = .52), with mean survival of 3223 ± 164 days and 3024 ± 146 days, respectively. Nor did we find a difference when stratifying patients according to no CMV events, infection, syndrome, and disease (log-rank P = .6). There was also no difference in the incidence of CLAD between patients with and without CMV events (P > .178). In patients with positive CMV serology, the development of CMV events, including severe disease, does not seem to influence survival. The incidence of CLAD also is not increased by the presence of CMV events.