Heart transplantation prognosis

Editor(s)-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D.; Associate Editor-In-Chief:

Prognosis
After the first 6 months, the mortality rates is approximately 3.5% per year. The prognosis for heart transplant patients following the orthotopic procedure has greatly increased over the past 20 years, and as of Aug. 11, 2006, the survival rates were as follows.


 * 1 year: 86.1% (males), 83.9% (females)
 * 3 years: 78.3% (males), 74.9% (females)
 * 5 years: 71.2% (males), 66.9% (females)

The "half-life" of patient survival has likewise improved as follows :


 * 1982-1991: 8.9 years
 * 1992-2001: 10.5 years
 * 2002-2007: 11.0 years

As of 2006, Tony Huesman is the world's longest living heart transplant patient, having survived for 28 years with a transplanted heart. Huesman received a heart in 1978 at the age of 20 after viral pneumonia severely weakened his heart. The operation was performed at Stanford University under American heart transplant pioneer Dr. Norman Shumway, who continued to perform the operation in the U.S. after others abandoned it due to poor results.

Causes of Death after Transplantation

 * Transplant rejection
 * Infection
 * Technical problems
 * CNS events
 * Malignancy