Heart Transplantation in Chile: Preliminary Report From the Gustavo Fricke Hospital in Vina del Mar

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to analyze our results as the national reference center of the public health network in Chile. Patients and Methods Retrospective analysis of all transplantations performed between 1998 and 2005 was done and actuarial survival estimates were calculated according to Kaplan-Meier. Results Heart transplantations were performed in 25 patients of mean age 43 ± 11.2 years. Eight patients (32%) were transplanted from a national priority list; all patients were under intensive care support with inotropic therapy, 4 were mechanically ventilated, and 1 required an intra-aortic counter pulsation balloon. The average time on the waiting list was 145 days in nonurgent cases and 9.4 days in urgent ones. Perioperative mortality occurred in 1 patient (4%) due to primary graft failure; 2 patients died due to infectious complications during the first year of follow-up; and 1 died due to a non-cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection at 51 months after transplantation. Two patients developed acute rejection with full recovery. The most common morbidities in the current series were hypertension (71%); hyperlipidemia (71%); renal dysfunction (24%); diabetes (10%); and vasculopathy (10%). Actuarial survival rates were 87.2% and 74.7% at 12 and 86 months, respectively. At 7 years follow-up, 20 patients were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class I and one Class II. Conclusion Our heart transplantation program showed comparable results in the short and midterm follow-up when compared with other international reports, confirming that heart transplantation is an excellent therapeutic option for patients with end-stage heart failure.