The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 75, 525-530, Copyright © 1978 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Current expectations in cardiac transplantation
WA Baumgartner, BA Reitz, CP Bieber, PE Oyer, NE Shumway and EB Stinson
Survival after cardiac transplantation has improved significantly over the
past 3 1/2 years at our Center as compared to previous experience (Fig. 5).
Currently, survival rates for 60 patients who have had heart
transplantation since late in 1973 (program year mean survival +/- S.E.)
are 66 percent (+/- 6.6 S.E.), 63 percent (+/- 7.0) and 58 percent (+/-
8.2) 1, 2, and 3 years after operation, respectively. In this report the
major reasons for this successful trend have been summarized. These consist
of transvenous endomyocardial biopsy for diagnosis and management of graft
rejection, use of RATG, immunologic monitoring for early detection of
impending rejection, and cardiac retransplantation in selected cases. The
present expectations for survival and rehabilitation after heart
transplantation are fully comparable to the current results of renal
transplantation from unrelated donors. These considerations support the
inclusion of cardiac transplantation as a realistic therapeutic alternative
in the management of patients with advanced heart disease irremediable by
standard forms of treatment.