Awareness, Attitudes, and Perceptions Toward Partial Heart Transplantation

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiology
• Surgical Innovation
• Medical Education

Background:

• Partial heart transplantation (PHT) offers growing heart valve implants for pediatric patients.
• Healthcare professional awareness, attitudes, and perceptions of PHT are largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess awareness, perceptions, and attitudes of healthcare professionals towards PHT.
• To identify potential barriers or facilitators for PHT adoption in pediatric cardiac care.

Main Methods:

• A national survey was distributed to members of the Congenital Heart Surgical Society, pediatric cardiac ICU directors, medical students, and OPO representatives.
• Awareness, perceptions, and attitudes were measured using a 5-point Likert scale and analyzed with ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests.

Main Results:

• Awareness of PHT was nearly universal among congenital heart surgeons (96.88%) and pediatric cardiologists (100%), but only 20% of medical students were aware.
• While surgeons and cardiologists understood PHT concepts, cardiologists showed significantly lower likelihoods to recommend (3.14) and inform patients (3.69) compared to surgeons (4.68 and 4.38).
• Significant differences (P < 0.001) were observed in surgeon and cardiologist perceptions regarding PHT use across different pediatric age groups.

Conclusions:

• Partial heart transplantation is well-recognized by pediatric cardiac surgeons and pediatric intensive care directors.
• Despite high awareness, disparities in recommendation likelihood and age-group perceptions between cardiologists and surgeons warrant further investigation.