title: Single-center experience of pediatric heart transplantation in taiwan.
abstract: Heart transplantation (HTx) is a treatment for end-stage heart failure or a complex or inoperable congenital defect. The long-term survival and the adequate donor to recipient body weight (D/R BW) ratio remain to be determined. From March 1995 to May 2004, 14 children (6 months-16 years of age) underwent HTx due to underlying diseases of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 10; 71.4%), congenital heart disease (n = 3; 21.4%), and Kawasaki disease (n = 1; 7.1%). Donor-recipient body weight ratio ranged from 0.89 to 3.9. Big heart syndrome was present in one patient when D/R BW ratio was more than 3. Actuarial survival was 92.9% at 5 years after transplantation. Only the one patient who had Kawasaki disease died due to early primary graft failure. HTx is a feasible method with good long-term survival rates for end-stage heart failure or for complex or inoperable congenital defects. After careful pretransplant evaluation, a high D/R BW ratio (more than 3) is acceptable.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: C I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: E T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: F Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000601:surgery; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000502:physiology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan