Primary graft dysfunction and long-term survival
Heart transplant data is depicted on Table 4. Recipient’s mean age was 46.1 years. The main cause of cardiomyopathy was Chagas disease in 69% of patients. Thirty-eight percent were in a priority state prior to transplant. Mean cold ischemic time was 140.6 minutes.
Among the 59 heart transplants performed during the study period, hearts from high-risk donors did not impact on the frequency of primary graft dysfunction (14.3% vs 10%, P=0.6). In addition, mean donor score of those patients that had primary graft dysfunction was similar to those patients that did not (19.7 vs 19.2, P=0.8).
Actuarial survival (Figure 3) of transplanted patients using high-risk donors was 78.5%, 64.3% and 60%, and using low-risk donors was 90%, 80% and 71.2% at one month, one year and two years, respectively (log-rank=0.4). Recipient’s age greater than 50 years (HR 6.02, CI95% 2.41 – 16.08, P<0.0001) was the only independent determinant of long-term mortality (Figure 4). Donor risk scoring (P=0.13) was not associated with long-term mortality on that model.