Morbidity and mortality beyond the 10th year following heart transplant. Data from a population of 137 patients

From 1978 to 2000, 692 patients underwent a heart transplantation (HT). 137 survived beyond the 10th year. We evaluated morbidity, mortality and immunosuppressive therapy. Population : 103 men and 34 women : Group (G) I : 10-30 y.o.(n515) G II : 30 250 y.o. (n556) GIII : 50 70 y.o. (n566). For those who had survived already 10 years, actuarial survival was 80% at 15 years following HT and 62.5% at 20 years . Mortality slope of 3%/ year was similar to the 0-to-10 year survival curve. 5 women gave birth to 7 children and 4 men had 5 kids, all healthy. Discussion : probability of surviving 20 years following HT is above 60% in this group of 10 year surviving patients. 50 % of the patients transplanted before being 50 y.o. worked after HT and 45% acknowledged no complication. Conclusion : Immunosuppression in HT patients having survived 10 years after their HT is associated with a high rate of complications relative to the low incidence of clinically relevant chronic rejection. Mortality causes (n527)