Lisa Salberg
03-11-2008, 09:43 AM
Heart transplant for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has long-term efficacy
DATELINE: NEW YORK
BODY:
The outcome of cardiac transplantation in patients with end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is favorable over the long term, and is as effective in this setting as heart transplantation for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, according to Italian investigators.
Dr. Claudio Rapezzi at the University of Bologna and colleagues point out in the February 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology that outcomes of cardiac transplantation have not been systematically studied in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
To remedy this, the team reports on the outcomes of 307 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy consecutively evaluated at their institution since 1987.
Twenty-one of these patients were put on the transplant waiting list during a mean follow-up of 9.9 years. Twenty of the 21 patients had end-stage evolution with systolic dysfunction.
Two are still on the list and one died because of rapid deterioration. For the 18 patients who underwent cardiac transplantation, the mean waiting time was
13 months. The 7-year survival rate was 94% after heart transplantation.
The outcomes of these patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were compared with that of 141 patients undergoing heart transplantation for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy over the same period.
"After age adjustment, no difference in survival was apparent (p = 0.66),"
Dr. Rapezzi and colleagues report.
"In conclusion," the investigators write, "long-term outcome after heart transplantation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is favorable and similar to that of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy."
The team also found that progression to intractable heart failure is considerably faster in young patients with end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy than in elderly patients at a similar stage of disease. "Therefore, inclusion on the heart transplant waiting list should not be delayed in young patients,"
they conclude.
DATELINE: NEW YORK
BODY:
The outcome of cardiac transplantation in patients with end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is favorable over the long term, and is as effective in this setting as heart transplantation for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, according to Italian investigators.
Dr. Claudio Rapezzi at the University of Bologna and colleagues point out in the February 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology that outcomes of cardiac transplantation have not been systematically studied in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
To remedy this, the team reports on the outcomes of 307 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy consecutively evaluated at their institution since 1987.
Twenty-one of these patients were put on the transplant waiting list during a mean follow-up of 9.9 years. Twenty of the 21 patients had end-stage evolution with systolic dysfunction.
Two are still on the list and one died because of rapid deterioration. For the 18 patients who underwent cardiac transplantation, the mean waiting time was
13 months. The 7-year survival rate was 94% after heart transplantation.
The outcomes of these patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were compared with that of 141 patients undergoing heart transplantation for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy over the same period.
"After age adjustment, no difference in survival was apparent (p = 0.66),"
Dr. Rapezzi and colleagues report.
"In conclusion," the investigators write, "long-term outcome after heart transplantation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is favorable and similar to that of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy."
The team also found that progression to intractable heart failure is considerably faster in young patients with end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy than in elderly patients at a similar stage of disease. "Therefore, inclusion on the heart transplant waiting list should not be delayed in young patients,"
they conclude.