Risk factor analysis of late survival after heart transplantation according to donor profile: a multi-institutional retrospective study of 512 transplants.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with terminal heart failure have increased more than the available organs leading to a high mortality rate on the waiting list. Use of Marginal and expanded criteria donors has increased due to the heart shortage. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed all heart transplantations (HTx) in Sao Paulo state over 8 years for donor profile and recipient risk factors. METHOD: This multi-institutional review collected HTx data from all institutions in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. From 2002 to 2008 (6 years), only 512 (28.8%) of 1777 available heart donors were accepted for transplantation. All medical records were analyzed retrospectively; none of the used donors was excluded, even those considered to be nonstandard. RESULTS: The hospital mortality rate was 27.9% (n = 143) and the average follow-up time was 29.4 ± 28.4 months. The survival rate was 55.5% (n = 285) at 6 years after HTx. Univariate analysis showed the following factors to impact survival: age (P = .0004), arterial hypertension (P = .4620), norepinephrine (P = .0450), cardiac arrest (P = .8500), diabetes mellitus (P = .5120), infection (P = .1470), CKMB (creatine kinase MB) (P = .8694), creatinine (P = .7225), and Na+ (P = .3273). On multivariate analysis, only age showed significance; logistic regression showed a significant cut-off at 40 years: organs from donors older than 40 years showed a lower late survival rates (P = .0032). CONCLUSIONS: Donor age older than 40 years represents an important risk factor for survival after HTx. Neither donor gender nor norepinephrine use negatively affected early survival.

Recommendations for use of marginal donors in heart transplantation: Brazilian Association of Organs Transplantation guideline.

The high prevalence of heart failure has increased the candidate list for heart transplantation; however, there is a shortage of viable donated organs, which is responsible for the high mortality of patients awaiting a transplantation. Because the marginal donor presents additional risk factors, it is not considered to be an ideal donor. The use of a marginal donor is only justified in situations when the risk of patient death due to heart disease is greater than that offered by the donor. These recommendations sought to expand the supply of donors, consequently increasing the transplant rate. We selected articles based on robust evidence to provide a substratum to develop recommendations for donors who exceed the traditional acceptance criteria. Recipient survival in the immediate postoperative period is intimately linked to allograft quality. Primary allograft failure is responsible for 38% to 40% of immediate deaths after heart transplantation: therefore; marginal donor selection must be more rigorous to not increase the surgical risk. The main donor risk factors with the respective evidence levels are: cancer in the donor (B), female donor (B), donor death due to hemorrhagic stroke (B), donor age above 50 years (relative risk [RR] = 1.5) (B), weight mismatch between donor and recipient < 0.8 (RR = 1.3) (B), ischemia > 240 minutes (RR = 1.2) (B), left ventricular dysfunction with ejection fraction below 45% (B), and use of high doses of vasoactive drugs (dopamine > 15 mg/kg·min) (B). Factors that impact recipient mortality are: age over 50 years (RR = 1.5); allograft harvest at a distance; adult recipient weighing more than 20% of the donor; high doses of vasoactive drugs (dopamine greater than 15 mg/kg·min) and ischemic time >4 hours. The use of a marginal donor is only justified when it is able to increase life expectancy compared with clinical treatment, albeit the outcomes are interior to those using an ideal donor.

Renal failure as a determinant of mortality after cardiac transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with heart failure frequently develop renal failure, which increases the mortality rate among patients undergoing cardiac transplantation. PURPOSE: To determine whether preoperative renal function influenced postoperative mortality in cardiac transplantation recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The measurements of plasma urea, plasma creatinine, and 24-hour creatinine clearance in patients who underwent cardiac transplantation were correlated with mortality at 30, 90, and 365 days after the procedure, using Student t test for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables. RESULTS: All variables correlated with mortality, particularly plasma creatinine at 30, 90, and 365 days (P =.029,.003, and.0029, respectively). CONCLUSION: Preoperative renal failure is a mortality indicator in cardiac transplantation recipients.

Renal Failure as a Determinant of Mortality After Cardiac Transplantation

Introduction. Patients with heart failure frequently develop renal failure, which increasesthe mortality rate among patients undergoing cardiac transplantation.Purpose. To determine whether preoperative renal function influenced postoperativemortality in cardiac transplantation recipients.Materials and Methods. The measurements of plasma urea, plasma creatinine, and 24-hour creatinine clearance in patients who underwent cardiac transplantation werecorrelated with mortality at 30, 90, and 365 days after the procedure, using Student t test for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables.Results. All variables correlated with mortality, particularly plasma creatinine at 30, 90,and 365 days (P .029, .003, and .0029, respectively).Conclusion. Preoperative renal failure is a mortality indicator in cardiac transplantation recipients.

Cuidados com o candidato a doador e critérios de seleçäo / Care with the donor candidate and selection criteria

O sucesso do transplante cardíaco depende, fundamentalmente, do receptor bem selecionado e do doador em bom estado orgânico. Além dos cuidados iniciais, a orientaçäo é para que, sempre que possível, seja realizada a operaçäo com receptor e doador em salas contíguas (lado a lado), seja evitado doador em peso inferior (até 10 por cento) ao do receptor, sejam evitadas pressöes elevadas e cirurgia cardíaca prévia no receptor. A busca de órgäos à distância fica para recptor com regime pressórico baixo artéria pulmonar. O diagnóstico de coma encefálico dever ser feito por meio de carotidoangiografia, demostrando ausência de fluxo sanguíneo encefálico; provas sorológicas negativas säo imprescindíveis para a realizaçäo do transplante, assim como a identidade ABO com o recptor. De rpreferência, näo usar drogas vasoativas (dopamina) no doador; se necessário, näo ultrapassar a dose de 10 ug/kg/min, mantendo adquados parâmetros de oxigenaçäo pela ventilaçäo mecânica. É necessária administraçäo generosa d íquidos por via endovenosa para evitar a ocorrência de hipovolemia/hipotensäo decorrentes de polúria desencadeada pelo diabete insípido. Quando o doador tem mais de 50 anos de idade ou nos casos em que o doador é do sexo feminino, é importante evitar-se o uso de agentes inotrópicos e que a cirurgia seja realizada no menor tempo isquêmico possível.

[Surgical treatment of infective endocarditis]. / Tratamento cirúrgico na endocardite infecciosa.

PURPOSE: To analyse, retrospectively, 83 patients with infective endocarditis (IE) that were operated during the acute phase of the disease and to identify possible subgroups with distinct mortality. METHODS: Between 1985 to 1990, 83 patients comprised the subject of this analysis. Fifty-one (61%) were male, aged between 3 months to 71 years, mean of 31.4 +/- 16.7 years. RESULTS: We could identify two subgroups that were most frequently operated on: the left side IE and the Staphylococcus aureus; and 77 (43%) had left sided IE (p < 0.001). When discriminated accordingly to the specifically etiologic agent (Staphylococcus aureus) this difference continues to be statistically significant: of 29 left sided IE by this agent 13 (45%) were operated on, whereas from 22 right sided IE by the same agents, just 3 (14%) were operated on (p < 0.05). The two major etiologic agents did not show any statistically significant difference in the number of patients that needed to be operated on: on those 51 patients with Staphylococcus aureus IE, 16 (31%) were treated surgically, while from the 60 patients with Streptococcus viridans, 22 (37%) underwent to surgical procedure (p- NS). The mortality in the patients treated by surgery was 32%, and those with Staphylococcus aureus IE were responsible for 46% of the total surgical deaths. CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment were most frequently used in the patient with left sided IE independently of the etiologic agent.

Tratamentos cirúrgicos dos aneurismas da aorta / Surgical treatment of aorta aneurism

As etiologias dos aneurismas da aorta säo a arteriosclerose, necrose médio-cística, degeneraçäo mixomatosa, dissecçäo, infecçäo, trauma, dilataçäo pós-estenótica e aortite. Devido aos processos patológicos envolvidos, as manifestaçöes clínicas e a natureza da sua evoluçäo podem ser variadas, tendo em vista que säo doenças incapacitantes e determinantes de óbito, se näo forem diagnosticadas e tratadas. Afortunadamente, existem métodos terapêuticos efetivos para todas estas condiçöes, como resultado do desenvolvimento de técnicas cirúrgicas ocorrido nas últimas décadas, determinando sobrevida ao redor de 90 por cento dos caoss com boa expecitativa de vida a longo prazo. As técnicas operatórias empregadas de um modo geral säo semelhantes, a despeito da etiologia, e as manifestaçöes clínicas, fisiopatológicas, indicaçöes para tratamento cirúrgico e os resultados säo, todavia, distintos. É necessário se levar em conta que o quadro clínico, os métodos de tratamento e os resultados podem variar conforme o segmento aórtico envolvido (ascendente, transversal ou descendente).