The Intra-Operative Application of Amiodarone Releasing Hydrogel to Prevent Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Undergoing Lung Transplantation

Approximately 1900 transplants are performed in the US annually. Lung transplantation remains the gold standard treatment for patients with end stage lung disease. This includes patients with range of etiologies such as Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, COPD and Cystic Fibrosis. One of the more common post-operative complications in patients undergoing lung transplantation is the development of atrial fibrillation. Recent studies have demonstrated that approximately 1/3 of patients will develop atrial fibrillation during their post-operative course. While it is uncertain if the development of post-operative atrial fibrillation affects survival, it does significantly increase length of hospital stay. Importantly, a portion of the patients that develop atrial fibrillation post-operatively will require cardioversion prior to discharge.

Currently one of the main stays of treatment for post-operative atrial fibrillation is systemic (oral or intravenous) amiodarone, which is a class III antiarrhythmic agent. While this particular drug is effective, it does carry the risk of several known complications. Due to the drug's pharmacokinetics, amiodarone concentrates in organs with high lipid content such as the thyroid, liver and lung. Amiodarone has several known adverse effects on the lung ranging from acute respiratory distress syndrome to more chronic disease such as Interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Amiodarone can have detrimental effects on the liver which in rare cases could lead to cirrhosis. Additionally, amiodarone can cause thyrotoxicosis as early as a few weeks after the initiation of amiodarone.

The adverse events listed above are related to the cumulative dose of amiodarone. Typically, when amiodarone is initiated, patients receive a loading dose of 600-800mg daily until the cumulative dose reaches 10 grams, after which patients will receive 200mg daily as a maintenance dose. Minimizing the cumulative dose of amiodarone by using a local application, could mitigate the potential adverse drug toxicities. In a previous study, the application of an amiodarone releasing hydrogel performed intraoperatively was shown to significantly decrease the rates of post-operative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass. Currently for patients undergoing lung transplantation, there is not a safe and effective measure available to prevent post-operative atrial fibrillation.

The Investigators aim to study the intraoperative application of an amiodarone containing hydrogel for prevention of post-operative atrial fibrillation in lung transplant patients.

In patients undergoing lung transplantation, post-operative atrial fibrillation is common and leads to prolonged hospital course and increased healthcare expenditures. Amiodarone is a main stay of therapy for atrial fibrillation, however this drug does have potential serious complications when administered systemically. The local application of amiodarone, could potentially decrease the rates of atrial fibrillation, while avoiding the systemic complications. This has the potential to decrease length of stay and decrease additional procedures (ie. Cardioversion) in patients undergoing lung transplantation.