Long-term survival after cardiac retransplantation: a twenty-year single-center experience

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for survival after cardiac retransplantation and compare the survival after retransplantation with that after primary cardiac transplantation. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 952 patients undergoing cardiac transplantation for the treatment of end-stage heart disease at a single center between 1977 and October 1997. Of these, 43 patients (4.5%) underwent cardiac retransplantation for cardiac failure resulting from transplant-related coronary artery disease, rejection, and early graft failure. RESULTS: No significant difference in actuarial patient survival was found by Kaplan-Meier analysis at 1, 2, and 5 years between patients undergoing primary transplantation and those undergoing retransplantation 76%, 71%, and 60% versus 66%, 66%, and 51%, respectively (P =.2). Multivariable analysis identified a shorter interval between transplants and an initial diagnosis of ischemic cardiomyopathy as significant risk factors for death after retransplantation (P =.04 and.03, respectively). Since 1993, when our criteria for patient selection for retransplantation were revised on the basis of earlier experience to exclude patients with allograft dysfunction as a result of primary graft failure and those with intractable acute rejection occurring less than 6 months after transplantation, the survival has been significantly better (<1993 = 45%, 45%, and 33% versus >/=1993 = 94%, 94%, and 94% at 1, 2, and 4 years, respectively, P =.003). CONCLUSION: The long-term outcome of cardiac retransplantation is comparable with that of primary transplantation, especially in patients with transplant-related coronary artery disease. Patient characteristics and other preoperative variables should assist in the rational application of retransplantation to ensure optimal use of donor organs.