Long-term effects of primary graft dysfunction after heart transplantation

We studied the incidence of primary graft dysfunction (PGD), its impact on in-hospital and follow-up outcomes and searched for independent risk factors.

During an 18-year period, 508 individuals underwent heart transplantation at our institution. Patients were diagnosed with none, mild, moderate or severe PGD according to ISHLT criteria.

Thirty-eight patients (7.5%) met the ISHLT criteria for mild PGD, 92 (18.1%) for moderate PGD and 23 (4.5%) for severe PGD. Patients were classified into none/mild PGD (77.4%) and moderate/severe PGD (22.6%) groups. In-hospital mortality was 12.4% (7.8% for none/mild PGD and 28.7% for moderate/severe PGD; p < .001). Survival at 1, 5, and 15 years was 85.5 ± 1.9% versus 67.2 ± 4.5%, 80 ± 2.2% versus 63.5 ± 4.7%, and 60.4 ± 3.6% versus 45.9 ± 8.4%, respectively (p < .001). Excluding the events occurring during the first month of follow-up, survival was comparable between the two groups (93.1 ± 1.4% vs. 94.7 ± 2.6 at 1 year and 65.6 ± 3.8% vs. 70.4 ± 10.4% at 15 years, respectively; p = .88). Upon multivariate logistic regression analysis preoperative mechanical circulatory support (odds ratio [OR] = 5.86) and preoperative intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) (OR = 9.58) were independently associated with moderate/severe PGD.

Our results confirm that PGD is associated with poor in-hospital outcome. The poor outcome does not extend beyond the first month of follow-up, with comparable survival between patients with none/mild PGD and moderate/severe PGD in the short and long-term. Mechanical circulatory support and preoperative IABP were found to be independent risk factors for moderate/severe PGD.