Abstract 529: A Modern Large-scale Analysis of Heart Transplantation in Elderly Patients
Introduction: As the prevalence of heart failure increases among older patients, the potential role of heart transplant (HTx) in this demographic demands further investigation. Survival outcome analysis of the elderly has primarily been analyzed in single-center studies, and the few long term studies performed have included a timeframe to the 1980s, introducing substantial variance from much poorer survival outcomes. We investigated the 5 to 10 year survival outcomes of more modern heart transplantation patients by analyzing the UNOS database. Methods: Heart transplantation data for 32,337 patients (2000-2014) was divided into three different age groups- <60, 60-69, and ≥70 years old. Gender, ethnicity, height, weight, BMI, ICU stay, ischemic time, length of stay (LOS), and creatinine level were evaluated for significance using Chi-Squared and H-Tests as appropriate (p<0.05). Survival outcome was assessed using a Kaplan-Meier Curve and log-rank tests. Results: 23,267 were <60, 8,459 were 60-69, and 611 were ≥70, with mean ages of 38±0.1, 64±0.0, and 72±0.1 respectively. The distribution of gender, ethnicity, ischemic time, BMI, height, and weight was significantly different between the cohorts, with p=0.000 for all. Survival analysis indicated complete pairwise significance at 10 years post-HTx, with overall significance of p=0.000. At 5 years post-HTx, only 60-69 vs ≥70 did not have pairwise significance in survival. Conclusion: Contrary to prior studies, results indicate a statistically significant difference in survival the older and younger cohorts. This difference is especially prominent at the 10 th year post-transplant, but can be seen even at the 5 th year.