Longer-Term Morbidity/Mortality of Severe Left Ventricular Primary Graft Dysfunction after Heart Transplantation

Purpose Severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is seen in approximately 5% of all heart transplant recipients per the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) PGD grading scale. These patients suffer endothelial cell damage and are known to have increased risk of early mortality. It is not known whether the survivors of severe PGD develop more donor specific antibody (DSA), have more treated rejections, have increased risk of the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), and have increased mortality at 3 years post transplantation. We sought to assess this potential association. Methods Between 2010-2016 we assessed 24 heart transplant patients who developed severe PGD per the ISHLT PGD grading scale. These patients who developed severe PGD were compared to those without severe PGD in a contemporaneous era. Patients were then followed for 3 years and assessed for the following endpoints: 3-year survival, 3-year freedom from CAV, 3-year freedom from non-fatal major adverse cardiac events (NF-MACE, defined as myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention/angioplasty, new congestive heart failure, pacemaker/implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement, and stroke), and 1-year freedom from rejection, including any treated rejection (ATR), acute cellular rejection (ACR), and antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Results Patients with severe PGD had decreased 3-year survival, 1-year freedom from any treated rejection, and 3-year freedom from NF-MACE compared to those patients who did not have severe PGD. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of 3-year freedom from CAV and freedom from DSA. Conclusion Severe PGD appears to have increased mortality and morbidity with more rejection and more NF-MACE. More intense therapies to offset the inflammatory response from severe PGD should be pursued.