Ramos KJ, Kapnadak SG, Bradford MC, et al. - Given that at most centers in the United States (US), decreased body mass index (BMI) is considered as an absolute contraindication for lung transplantation (LTx), and keeping this in mind researchers quantified survival after LTx among moderate-to-severely underweight cystic fibrosis (CF) patients (BMI <17 kg/m ²) in the US vs normal-weight CF recipients and other frequently transplanted patient cohorts. They computed Kaplan-Meier estimates of median post-transplant survival, utilizing United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) data, for all CF, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients, as well as low and normal-weight CF subgroups. They used Cox regression modeling stratified by transplant center in order to evaluate the risk of post-transplant death in CF recipients with BMI <17 kg/m² vs COPD recipients (reference). Findings revealed that post-transplant survival among CF recipients with BMI <17 kg/m² was comparable to that observed in other frequently transplanted groups. Experts recommended not treating BMI <17 kg/m² as a single risk factor in the CF population as an absolute contraindication to LTx.