Heart transplantation and its long-term outcomes

Abstract

Heart transplantation increases quality of life and life expectancy in patients with end stage heart failure. Patients diagnosed with severe heart failure via cardiopulmonary function tests are candidates for heart transplantation. Immunosuppressive treatment administered after transplantation is a three-drug treatment method used to weaken the recipient’s immune system in order to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. While early-term complications of heart transplant include primary graft incompatibility, right ventricular failure, and infections, malignancies and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) are among late-term complications. The past decade has revealed 50% increased incidence of post-transplant CAV which is difficult to diagnose and treat to this day.

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy, heart transplant complications, heart transplant, immunosuppressive treatment, transplantation rejection.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.