Changes in etiology, cause of death, survival, and mortality rates in cardiac transplant patients from 1998 to 2011

OBJECTIVES
We retrospectively analyzed changes in heart failure etiology, causes of death, mortality and survival rates in cardiac transplant patients from 1998 to 2011.

STUDY DESIGN
A total of 144 patients (112 men, 32 women; mean age 40.2±14.3 years) underwent cardiac transplantation between February 1998 and January 2011. The patients were divided into two groups; hence, 63 patients (group 1; mean age 42.5±12.6 years) receiving transplantation up to January 2006, and 81 patients (group 2; mean age 38.4±15.3 years) receiving transplantation from 2006 to 2011. In the latter period, a ventricular assist device was used in 17 patients before transplantation.

RESULTS
Dilated cardiomyopathy was the main cause of heart transplantation in both groups (71.4% vs. 74.1%). Overall mortality, in-hospital mortality (<30 days), and late mortality (≥30 days) rates were 39.6% (n=57), 13.9% (n=20), and 25.7% (n=37), respectively. Survival rates for 1, 2, 5, and 10 years were 76%, 69%, 59%, and 46%, respectively. The second group had significantly lower rates of overall mortality and late mortality compared to group 1 (29.6% vs. 52.4%, p=0.005; 16.0% vs. 38.1%, p=0.002, respectively), whereas early mortality rates were similar. Survival rates were also higher in the second group, but these differences did not reach significance (1-year, 76.1% vs. 74.6%; 2-year, 73.0% vs. 65.1%; 5-year, 63.8% vs. 55.6%; log rank 0.33). In both groups, infections (30.3% vs. 33.3%), right ventricular failure (12.1% vs. 29.2%), and sudden cardiac death (15.2% vs. 16.7%) were the leading causes of death.

CONCLUSION
Our data show that overall and late mortality rates show significant decreases in cardiac transplant patients from 1998 to 2011.