title: Clinical outcomes in overweight heart transplant recipients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have examined the impact of patient weight on heart transplant (HT) outcomes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Nine outcomes were compared in 2 groups of HT recipients (N = 347) based on their mean body mass index (BMI) during the first 3 years post-HT.
  
  
  METHODS
  Group 1 consisted of 108 non-overweight patients (BMI <25; mean age 52; 29.6% females; 16.7% minorities). Group 2 consisted of 239 overweight patients (BMI ≥25; mean age 52; 15.9% females; 13.8% minorities). Outcomes were: survival, re-hospitalization, rejections, infections, cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), stroke, renal dysfunction, diabetes, and lymphoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Non-overweight patients had shorter survival, were re-hospitalized more days after the HT discharge, and had more lymphoma and severe renal dysfunction. Overweight patients had more CAV, steroid-induced diabetes, and acute rejections.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight HT patients had better survival, but more rejections, CAV, and diabetes. Non-overweight HT patients had worse survival, plus more re-hospitalization time, lymphoma, and renal dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: ajalowiec@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jalowiec
authors.affiliation: Center for Heart Failure, Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Division of Cardiac Surgery, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA; Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.affiliation: Center for Nursing Excellence, University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL, USA; University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, Birmingham, AL, USA.
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: White-Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D066027:Transplant Recipients; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Heart transplant hospitalization; Heart transplant outcomes; Heart transplant survival; Obese heart transplant patients; Overweight heart transplant patients