title: Bradyarrhythmia after heart transplantation. Incidence, time course, and outcome.
abstract: From June 1980 to April 1989, 72 of 401 (18%) adult recipients of orthotopic heart transplantation developed prolonged (greater than 24 hours) bradyarrhythmias (less than 60 beats/min) within 5 days after transplantation. Junctional bradycardia occurred in 50 (69%) recipients, sinus bradycardia in 18 (25%), and slow ventricular response during atrial fibrillation in four (6%). Fifty-five of 72 (76%) patients had bradyarrhythmias of less than 20 days' duration (less than 7 days, 50 patients; 7-20 days, five patients). Fifty patients returned to sinus rhythm (greater than 60 beats/min) by the time of discharge. Five patients expired within 20 days. Seventeen of 72 (24%) patients had bradyarrhythmia for more than 20 days, which was symptomatic in 11. All 17 patients (junctional bradycardia, 13 patients; sinus bradycardia, four patients) received a permanent pacemaker within 40 days after transplantation. Between 1 and 12 months (mean, 4 +/- 3 months) after pacemaker implantation, 12 patients recovered sinus rhythm (greater than 70 beats/min). The other five patients had intrinsic rates of 32-57 beats/min (mean, 48 +/- 10 beats/min) during 1-9 months (mean, 4 +/- 3 months) of follow-up. The donor ischemic time in bradyarrhythmia patients was 202 +/- 34 minutes, which was significantly longer (p less than 0.01) than the 173 +/- 43 minutes for those patients without bradyarrhythmia. Conclusively, the incidence of posttransplantation bradyarrhythmia is relatively high. It is usually temporary, however, even in patients with a prolonged duration of bradyarrhythmia. A relation appears to exist between donor ischemic time and the incidence of bradyarrhythmia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Curtiss
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Kormos
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Armitage
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hardesty
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Griffith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001919:Bradycardia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D013997:Time Factors