Comparison of cardiac rejection in heart and heart-lung transplantation.
Cardiac biopsy remains the principal tool for diagnosis of rejection in heart and heart-lung transplantation. In rare instances pulmonary rejection may occur without cardiac rejection, but the overall incidence of cardiac rejection may be less with heart-lung transplantation than with heart transplantation. During the 6 months from March to September 1986, 40 heart transplantations and nine heart-lung transplantations were performed. Heart transplant patients received cyclosporine (8 to 10 mg/kg/day), azathioprine (1 to 2 mg/kg/day), and prednisone (0.8 mg/kg/day, with tapering). Heart-lung transplant patients received cyclosporine and azathioprine in the same dosages, but steroids were withheld for 3 weeks. Heart-lung transplant patients received three postoperative dosages of rabbit antithymocyte globulin (200 mg intramuscularly). There were five early deaths in the heart transplant group, four from infection and one from cerebrovascular accident. Since the initial rejection analysis presented here, one additional heart transplant patient died from rejection (241 days), and one heart-lung transplant patient died from infection (99 days). Cyclosporine levels were determined by radioimmunoassay, and cardiac rejection was diagnosed by serial endomyocardial biopsy. Early cardiac rejection is notably less common after heart-lung transplantation than after heart transplantation. Although the prophylactic antithymocyte globulin given in heart-lung transplantation may be important in this regard, rejection is probably inherently less common after heart-lung transplantation.
D000328:Adult; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001379:Azathioprine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001706:Biopsy; D003524:Cyclosporins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000187:drug effects; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D016041:Heart-Lung Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D016040:Lung Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D003524:Cyclosporins; D001379:Azathioprine; D011241:Prednisone; D008775:Methylprednisolone