Background: Cardiac retransplantation is the definitive treatment for allograft failure despite decreased long-term survival in these patients. The cause of the poorer outcomes in cardiac retransplant patients is unclear.
Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of 859 adult cardiac transplant patients. Of these, 45 (5.7%) underwent cardiac retransplantation at 8.2 +/- 5.3 (mean +/- SD) years after the first transplant, primarily for severe transplant vasculopathy (n = 42).
Results: One-year survival for retransplant patients was significantly lower compared with de novo transplant patients (75% vs 87%; p < 0.003). Twenty-three patients died due to either malignancy (n = 8), infection (n = 6), rejection (n = 3), sudden death (n = 2), recurrent transplant coronary artery disease (n = 2) or post-operative bleeding (n = 1).
Conclusion: Although cardiac retransplantation has immediate life-saving benefits, survival is lower compared with de novo cardiac transplantation due to higher rates of malignancy and infection.