title: Cause of death and sudden cardiac death after heart transplantation. An autopsy study.
abstract: Postmortem findings in 39 patients following cardiac transplantation are presented. Causes of death were right-sided heart failure after transplantation (6 [15%]), infection (5 [13%]), multisystem organ failure (4[10%]), complications of noncardiac surgery (3 [8%]), acute rejection (3 [8%]), malignant neoplasm (3 [8%]), graft vascular disease (3 [8%]), preservation procurement injury (3 [8%]), cardiac arrhythmia (2 [5%]), other (4 [10%]), and unclear (3 [8%]). Seven patients in medically stable condition died after a sudden cardiac arrest, and these constituted 27% (7/26) of deaths more than 1 month after transplant. The 7 sudden cardiac arrests were due to graft vascular disease (2 [29%]), acute rejection (2 [29%]), cardiac arrhythmias (2 [29%]), and hyperkalemia during an exacerbation of acute renal failure (1 [14%]). In 3 of the 5 patients who died of sudden cardiac arrest not due to acute rejection, hemodialysis and plasmapheresis were triggers of the event. Pulmonary hypertensive arteriopathy was associated with early death and right-sided heart failure, and 6 of 8 patients with these changes died perioperatively or postoperatively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3712, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Russell T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Steenbergen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000209:etiology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D011183:Postoperative Complications