Perme Mobility Scale Is Associated With Morbidity and Mortality in Patients Undergoing Lung Transplant: 1-Year Follow-Up.

INTRODUCTION Lung transplantation (LTx) is an effective treatment for patients with advanced chronic lung disease who are unresponsive to other therapies. Functional capacity is increasingly recognized as an important prognostic indicator in transplant candidates and recipients.

Objective

To assess functional status using the Perme Mobility Scale in patients undergoing LTx, and to examine its association with mechanical ventilation (MV) duration, ICU and hospital length of stay, and mortality over a 1-year follow-up.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study of patients admitted to the ICU at Dom Vicente Scherer Hospital, Porto Alegre, following lung transplantation between January 2018 and December 2019. Perme Mobility Scale scores were recorded at ICU admission and hospital discharge. Data on MV duration, ICU and hospital length of stay, readmissions, and mortality were collected from medical records and follow-up calls.

Results

Sixty-seven patients were included (median age 57 years; 52.2% female). Higher Perme scores were significantly associated with shorter MV duration, shorter ICU and shorter hospital stay. Specifically, the total Perme score at hospital discharge was negatively correlated with mechanical ventilation duration (r = -0.408; p = 0.001) and ICU length of stay (r = -0.314; p = 0.01). Additionally, mechanical ventilation duration categories were significantly associated with 1-year mortality (p = 0.005), with the highest mortality observed in patients requiring mechanical ventilation for > 48 hours.

Conclusion

Improved functional status as measured by the Perme Mobility Scale was associated with better clinical outcomes in lung transplant recipients. The Perme Mobility Scale represents a potentially useful prognostic marker that warrants further validation in prospective multicenter studies before being established as a tool for prognostic risk stratification.