Children’s Heart Assessment Tool for Transplantation (CHAT) Score: A Novel Risk Score Predicts Survival After Pediatric Heart Transplantation:

Background:Given the shortage of donor organs in pediatric heart transplantation (HTx), pretransplant risk stratification may assist in organ allocation and recipient optimization. We sought to construct a scoring system to preoperatively stratify a patient’s risk of one-year mortality after HTx.Methods:The United Network for Organ Sharing database was queried for pediatric (<18 years) patients undergoing HTx between 2000 and 2016. The population was randomly divided in a 4:1 fashion into derivation and validation cohorts. A multivariable logistic regression model for one-year mortality was constructed within the derivation cohort. Points were then assigned to independent predictors (P < .05) based on relative odds ratios (ORs). Risk groups were established based on easily applicable, whole-integer score cutoffs.Results:A total of 5,700 patients underwent HTx; one-year mortality was 10.7%. There was a similar distribution of variables between derivation (n = 4,560) and validation (n = 1,140) cohorts. Of t...