Gastrointestinal complications in heart transplant patients: MITOS study.
BACKGROUND
The most frequent immunosuppressive treatment complications in solid organ transplant recipients are gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.


METHODS
An observational, cross-sectional study to evaluate the prevalence and management of GI complications in transplanted patients was conducted via a written questionnaire given to doctors at their practice.


RESULTS
This study included 1788 patients; 181 corresponded to heart transplant recipients. The mean age for the heart transplant patients was 58.7 +/- 11.8 years. The mean time from the transplantation was 5.2 +/- 4.4 years. GI complications were seen in 38.7% of cases. Regarding the clinical management, in 72.9% of cases patients with GI complications received pharmacologic treatment, 86.3% with gastric protectors, 32.8% reduced the dose of some drug, 8.1% interrupted the drug temporarily, and 10.9% discontinued the drug permanently. The drug that was always discontinued was mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and in 85.7% of cases in which the dose of an immunosuppressive drug was reduced, the reduced drug was also MMF.


CONCLUSIONS
Almost 40% of heart transplant recipients suffered GI complications which affected daily activities in most cases. The most used strategy to manage these complications was based on a treatment with gastric protectors together with dose reduction and/or partial or definitive MMF discontinuation.
Díaz
B
B
Hospital Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain. beadimo@gmail.com
González Vilchez
F
F
Almenar
L
L
Delgado
J F
JF
Manito
N
N
Paniagua
M J
MJ
Crespo
M G
MG
Kaplinsky
E
E
Pascual
D A
DA
Fernández-Yáñez
J
J
Mirabet
S
S
Palomo
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000453:epidemiology; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents