Abstract
Introduction The heart transplant became a consecrated therapy for patients with terminal heart failure, increasingly improving the survival. Objective To identify the medium-term results in patients undergoing cardiac transplantation. Methods This is a descriptive, documentary and retrospective study, using a quantitative approach, developed in a Unit of Transplant and Heart Failure, of a tertiary level public hospital, located in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. The data were obtained from a sample of 188 patients (154 men and 34 women), submitted to the heart transplant, in the period from October 1997 to March 2011. There were calculated survival rates based on Kaplan-Meier methods. Results There were identified information about the patient's gender (male 81.91%), medical diagnosis which determined the heart transplantation (idiopathic cardiomyopathies 23.98%, ischemic 23.4% and Chagasic 17.02%). The median age of patients was 48 years old (interquartile range = 17.25 years) and the median observation period was 877 days. During this period, 78 patients died, resulting in survival ratios of 72%, 59% and 47% after 1, 5 and 9 years of cardiac transplantation, respectively. Younger patients had longer survival (P=0.0418). Conclusion The medium-term survival of patients undergoing cardiac transplantation is significant, especially for younger patients.
Highlights
The heart transplant became a consecrated therapy for patients with terminal heart failure, increasingly improving the survival
Cardiac transplantation between humans began at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in 1967, with surgery performed by Bernard [1]
Data were obtained from the records of patients who were treated as outpatients in a public hospital that is reference to heart transplantation in a state in northeastern Brazil
Summary
The heart transplant became a consecrated therapy for patients with terminal heart failure, increasingly improving the survival. The median age of patients was 48 years old (interquartile range = 17.25 years) and the median observation period was 877 days During this period, 78 patients died, resulting in survival ratios of 72%, 59% and 47% after 1, 5 and 9 years of cardiac transplantation, respectively. Cardiac transplantation remains the treatment of choice for patients with refractory heart failure, despite the great improvement in life expectancy with clinical treatment, and for patients with end-stage heart failure, getting better survival. It is accepted as an effective method for the treatment of patients without hope, pleasure or satisfaction of a healthy and dignified existence, or at risk of death [3]. Brazil were recorded in 832 heart transplant procedures [6], showing that the country performs a high quantity of surgeries
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