The influence of preoperative patient characteristics on early and late survival following cardiac transplantation.
In an attempt to identify the preoperative factors that influence survival following cardiac transplantation, we retrospectively analyzed multiple demographic, clinical, and hemodynamic data of 301 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac transplantation between December 1980 and July 1988 (cyclosporine era). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses revealed that the two most deleterious risk factors for premature death following transplantation were pulmonary hypertension not responsive to vasodilator challenge and preoperative requirement of hemodynamic support (intravenous inotropes or mechanical assistance). The combination of these two independent risk factors was an even stronger predictor of mortality (relative risk, 6:1; p less than 0.0001): the 3-month actuarial survival rate of the 20 patients with this combination was 30.3% versus 78.4% of the 47 patients with only pulmonary hypertension, 87.9% of the 42 patients with only the requirement of hemodynamic support, and 95.3% of the 172 patients with neither of these two risk factors. The difference in postoperative mortality between patients with versus those without these two risk factors is due to a higher rate of fatal infectious complications: six of 20 patients (30%) with both risk factors died from infection within 3 months after transplant compared with three deaths among 172 patients (1.7%) with neither of these risk factors. The majority of fatal infections were pulmonary. There were significantly more fatal and nonfatal infectious episodes in patients with one or both of these risk factors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Costard-Jäckle
A
A
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, CA 94305.
Hill
I
I
Schroeder
J S
JS
Fowler
M B
MB
D000328:Adult; D015908:Counterpulsation; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000401:mortality*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009599:Nitroprusside / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D009599:Nitroprusside