Introduction:
Short and medium term outcome after heart transplantation has steadily improved over the last few decades. Outcomes for adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD) who undergo transplantation are generally considered to be less favorable.
Hypothesis:
We hypothesized that the development of heart teams that specialize in ACHD would lead to improved outcomes after transplantation in this population.
Methods:
We reviewed the records of all patients undergoing first heart transplant at a university center with a dedicated ACHD team over the last 10 years. Patients undergoing re-transplantation were excluded. We looked at short (30 days) and medium term (1 year) survival after heart transplantation in ACHD patients.
Results:
Between 1/1/05 and 6/10/15, 258 patients underwent heart transplantation. Of the 258 patients, 17 were re-transplants and were excluded. Of the remaining 241 patients, 12 were ACHD patients and 229 were transplanted for other diagnosis (general group). In the general group 184 of 212 (86.8%) patients were alive at 1 year (the remaining 17 did not have sufficient follow up to be included in the 1-year survival analysis). In the ACHD group 9 of 9 patients (100%) were alive at 1 year. The remaining 3 ACHD patients with insufficient follow up to be included in the 1-year survival analysis were still alive 2.5-9.5 months after transplant, such that all 12 ACHD patients survived at least 30 days and were discharged home after heart transplant. At the end of the study period 160 of 229 (70%) patients were still alive in the general group, compared to 8 of 12 (66.7%) in the ACHD group.
Conclusions:
Short and medium term survival after heart transplantation appears to be no worse for selected ACHD patients compared to the general population. Larger studies with longer follow up are needed to confirm our findings and clarify the intermediate and long-term outcomes of ACHD patients undergoing heart transplantation in the modern era.
Waitlist Outcomes for Heart Transplant Candidates with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) before and after the 2018 UNOS Allocation Policy Change
