title: Acute diverticulitis in heart transplant recipients.
abstract: Immunosuppressed patients are susceptible to complicated diverticulitis, but reports of this complication are scarce in heart graft recipients. To estimate the prevalence of acute diverticulitis in heart graft recipients, we retrospectively reviewed the cases of diverticulitis in a series of 143 patients who underwent orthotopic heart transplantation in a period of 10 years. Six (4%) of these developed acute diverticulitis and required colectomy. All of them were male patients and were older than 50 years. Four patients underwent urgent laparotomy and colon resection with end colostomy (Hartmann procedure). The two other patients suffered from diverticulitis without generalized peritonitis and underwent laparoscopic sigmoidectomy with direct transanal end-to-end anastomosis. The postoperative outcomes of these six patients were satisfactory. As are other immunosuppressed patients, heart graft recipients are susceptible to diverticulitis. Early surgical management may be safe in well-compensated patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital of Liège, Sart-Tilman University, Belgium.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Detry
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Defraigne
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meurisse
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Demoulin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Honoré
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jacquet
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Limet
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000209:etiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003082:Colectomy; D003125:Colostomy; D004238:Diverticulitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000209:etiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013601:T-Lymphocytes
chemical_list: D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents