Safety of Inhaled Amphotericin B Lipid Complex as Antifungal Prophylaxis in Lung Transplant Recipients

Inhaled formulations of amphotericin B are the most widely used antifungal prophylactic agents in lung transplant recipients, yet there are limited data on their safety. We performed a single-center retrospective cohort study of 603 consecutive patients who underwent lung transplantation between 2012 and 2017 and received antifungal prophylaxis with inhaled amphotericin B lipid complex (iABLC) from the day of transplantation until hospital discharge. Of 603 patients, 600 (99.5%) received ≥1 dose of iABLC, and 544 (90.2%) completed the recommended prophylactic course. In total, 4,128 iABLC doses (median, 5; range, 1 to 48 per patient) were administered; 24 patients received >3 months of therapy. Only one (0.2%) patient discontinued therapy due to a drug-attributable adverse event. During the first posttransplant year, 80 (13.3%) patients died (median time to death, 171 days; interquartile range [IQR], 80 to 272 days), and 3,352 (median, 6 per patient) lung biopsies were performed; 414 (68.7%) patients developed biopsy-proven acute cellular rejection. One-year adverse events in our cohort of lung transplant recipients treated with iABLC during transplant hospitalization matched national outcomes for rejection, graft loss, and death. iABLC is a safe and well-tolerated antifungal prophylactic agent in lung transplant recipients.