selection of patients
Last reviewed 01/2018
- patients have end-stage cardiac disease
- must consider the likelihood of improved survival with a heart transplantation compared with the expected survival without a transplant. Survival with a transplant is approximately 80%, 70% and 55% at 1, 5 and 10 years respectively. A heart transplant must make a significant difference with respect to expected patient survival.
- different aetiologies of patients who have heart transplants include:
- ischaemic heart disease (about 50%)
- cardiomyopathies (about 40%)
- valvular and congenital heart defects (about 5%)
- upper age limit is usually taken at about 60 years of age
- absolute contraindications include:
- serious concomitant pulmonary pathology eg pulmonary hypertension, parenchymal pulmonary disease, recent pulmonary embolism/infarction
- active infection
- a continued excess alcohol consumption
- significant cerebral/systemic vascular disease
- malignancy