[Quality of life and personal satisfaction following heart transplantation: an indicator of treatment results].

Cardiac transplantation is an established method of treatment to prolong survival in terminally-ill patients with severe heart disease. This study was undertaken to evaluate the quality of life and its best expression as satisfaction in patients who had undergone cardiac transplantation one year previously. From a total of 47 patients (14 with coronary artery disease, 27 with dilated cardiomyopathy and six with valvular heart disease), self-assessment questionnaires were completed to judge postoperative improvement/deterioration (change of status) and satisfaction with the level achieved as designated on the basis of visual analogue scales. Quality of life and satisfaction were assessed in nine categories: physical, emotional, mental, vocational, sexual status, financial situation, leisure activities, partnership and overall quality of life. The data was analyzed with the Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The patients reported a consistent improvement in quality of life and satisfaction with respect to all categories except financial situation. Accordingly, quality of life after cardiac transplantation can be regarded as substantially improved. While most marked improvement was incurred in physical status and, consequently, overall quality of life, there was also a meaningful salutary effect on psychosocial aspects of life such as emotional well-being and leisure time activities. There were significant differences between change of status postoperatively and satisfaction with the level achieved in the categories of mental and vocational status, financial situation and partnership as well as family relations. Statistical analysis showed that outcome with respect to quality of life and satisfaction was not dependent on the underlying disease or the age of the patient at the time of transplantation.