title: Is mechanical circulatory support helpful before cardiac retransplantation?
abstract: Ventricular assist devices are widely used as a bridge for cardiac transplantation patients. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate retrospectively, whether the use of ventricular assist devices could increase survival after early or late retransplantation. Over the past 10 years, 219 patients were transplanted in the authors' centre. Eight of 11 retransplanted patients required preoperative insertion of a ventricular assist device. Five assist systems were implanted in the early period after transplantation ( < 30 days) and three later after transplantation ( > 30 days). After early retransplantation, two patients survived and three died. All three late retransplantations were successful and all patients are still alive with a mean (s.d.) follow-up of 25(22) months. Ventricular assist devices are helpful for late retransplantation but do not improve poor survival after early retransplantation. Such devices should not be set up for early retransplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Noirhomme
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: d'Udekem
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jacquet
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: El Khoury
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Verhelst
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rubay
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goenen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dion
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000401:mortality*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome