Survival Outcomes of Oversized Cardiac Allografts in Pediatric Patients—A Single-Center Experience in Taiwan

Abstract Objectives An oversized cardiac allograft may have a negative impact on survival outcomes according to previous studies; however, due to the shortage of pediatric donor hearts, the use of oversized cardiac allografts is sometimes inevitable. In this study, we reported the survival outcomes of pediatric patients in relation with the donor-recipient weight ratio. Methods Twenty-eight children, aged 3 months to 17 years, with dilated cardiomyopathy underwent primary cardiac transplantation at the National Taiwan University Hospital between 1995 and 2012. We analyzed these patients according to the donor-recipient weight ratio: group 1 (n = 19) with donor-recipient weight ratio  Results The 30-day survival rate was 100% for both group 1 and group 2 ( P  = 1). The survival rates for group 1 and group 2 were 95% vs 100% at 1 year, 84% vs 89% at 5 years, and 73% vs 61% at 10 years. The median survival was 14.4 years vs 12.9 years ( P  = .6313). Conclusion In this cohort, the use of oversized cardiac allograft in pediatric patients for dilated cardiomyopathy did not have a negative effect on short-term and long-term survival.