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Updated: Jul 6, 2026
A Pre-Clinical Porcine Model of Orthotopic Heart Transplantation
Published on: April 27, 2019
Lessons learned from the pediatric heart transplant study
Daphne T Hsu1, David C Naftel, Steven A Webber
1Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. dh17@columbia.edu
Insights
The Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (PHTS) has tracked pediatric heart transplant outcomes since 1993. This long-term data analysis identifies risk factors for survival and complications, guiding evidence-based care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Transplantation Science
- Clinical Outcomes Research
Background:
- The Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (PHTS) was established in 1991.
- It is a collaborative initiative focused on advancing pediatric heart transplantation science and care.
- Since 1993, PHTS has maintained a prospective, international database.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine risk factors for adverse outcome events after listing for heart transplantation in children.
- To analyze outcomes and assess risk factors for mortality and major morbidities post-listing and post-transplantation.
- To address challenges in implementing evidence-based medicine and ensuring long-term data collection.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, event-driven data collection in an international registry.
- Analysis of risk factors associated with key outcome events.
- Longitudinal tracking of pediatric heart transplant recipients.
Main Results:
- Over 12 years, PHTS has significantly contributed to understanding pediatric heart transplant outcomes.
- Identified key risk factors for death and major morbidities following listing and transplantation.
- Established a robust dataset for ongoing analysis of long-term outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The PHTS has made substantial contributions to pediatric heart transplantation through outcome analysis and risk factor assessment.
- Future efforts focus on integrating evidence-based medicine and ensuring continued long-term data analysis.
- The study is crucial for improving the care and long-term survival of pediatric heart transplant recipients.
Abstract:
The Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (PHTS) group was founded in 1991 as a voluntary, collaborative effort dedicated to the advancement of the science and treatment of children following listing for heart transplantation. Since 1993, the PHTS has collected data in an international, prospective, event-driven database that examines risk factors for outcome events following listing for transplantation. The events include transplantation, death, rejection, infection, malignancy, graft vasculopathy, and retransplantation. Over its 12 years of existence, the PHTS has made major contributions to the field of pediatric heart transplantation, especially in the areas of outcome analysis and risk factor assessment for death and other major morbidities after listing and after transplantation. The new challenges facing the PHTS include how to implement the practice of evidence-based medicine in the field of pediatric heart transplantation and how to support ongoing data collection and analysis to provide long-term outcomes as the PHTS subjects enter their second decade after transplantation.
