[Clinical experience of anesthesia management in heart transplantation]

An experience is described of anesthesiological management of orthotopic heart transplantations performed to 22 males aged 16 to 54 years and 5 females aged 27 to 43 years with dilation cardiomyopathy (20 cases), ischemic heart disease (5 cases), Abramov-Fiedler myocarditis (1 case) and the combination of the aortic valve defect with ischemic heart disease (1 case). Techniques of anesthesiological management in recipients and donors are described. The period necessary for the recovery of the donor heart function is characterized and cardiotropic transplant support is described. Specific clinical course of the anesthesia depending on the pulmonary artery pressure, the type of general anesthesia used in recipients and the use of catecholamines for hemodynamic maintenance in donors during heart excision have been analysed.