Analysis of survivors more than 10 years after heart transplantation in the cyclosporine era: Stanford experience.

BACKGROUND

Truly long term survival post heart transplantation has become increasingly frequent over the past two decades.

METHODS

We analyzed multiple clinical outcomes in the cohort of 140 patients in the Stanford database who underwent heart transplantation after the introduction of cyclosporine-based immunosuppression in 1980 and survived >10 years after transplantation.

RESULTS

We found generally excellent functional status in these patients, but a high incidence of hypertension, renal dysfunction, and graft CAD as well as malignancy.

CONCLUSION

With continued improvement in post-transplant survival rates, providing complex care for such long-term recipients as these will assume increasing clinical importance in the everyday practice of transplant medicine and these data highlight the problems to be anticipated.