Mid-term results of heart transplantation in diabetic patients

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been considered a relative contraindication to heart transplantation (HTx) because of possible increased infection rates and worsening DM with prednisone immunosuppression. The introduction of cyclosporine has allowed us to reduce the dosage of oral steroids and to accept DM patients (pts) for HTx. We reviewed the mid-term outcome of our DM pts who had undergone HTx.

Out of 257 HTx recipients, 19 males and 3 females, aged 53 +/- 8 years, were diabetic. Prior to HTx, DM was controlled with insulin in 5, with oral hypoglycemic agents in 7 and with diet in the remaining patients. Immunosuppression consisted of cyclosporine and azathioprine; low-dose prednisone was added in 10 patients because of repeated rejections.

All patients survived HTx and were followed 2 to 75 (mean 38 +/- 21) months. There were 4 late deaths, with actuarial survival of 84% at 5 years. DM was more difficult to control after HTx (12 patients requiring insulin vs 5 pre-HTx), but comparison of diabetic vs non diabetic patients following HTx showed no significant difference in frequency of rejection or infection during the 1st year (2.6 +/- 1.6 vs 2.1 +/- 1.5; 0.5 +/- 0.4 vs 0.4 +/- 0.3 episode/patient respectively) and in 5-year actuarial survival (84% vs 77%). Renal function is preserved in all DM patients, hypertension has developed in 11/18 (61%); annual post-HTx cardiac catheterisation has shown normal graft function and coronary arteries in all but 2 patients.

Mid-term results indicate that HTx can be safely performed in diabetic patients; a longer follow-up is required to determine whether DM is no longer a contraindication to HTx.