Results of orthotopic heart transplantation for ischaemic cardiomyopathy.

From July 1983 to May 1987, 172 orthotopic heart transplantations were performed in 165 patients. Of these, 46 recipients (39 male, 7 female), aged between 26 and 56 years (mean age 47), suffered from ischaemic cardiomyopathy. Postoperative immunosuppression consisted of a triple drug regimen of cyclosporine A, azathioprine and, in the last 31 patients, low-dose steroids. The actuarial survival in this group of patients at 1 year and at 2 years was 71.9%. There were five early deaths: three due to acute rejection and two from multiple-organ failure and sepsis. Of the eight late deaths, two could be attributed to acute cardiac rejection and four to bacterial infections. In two patients, sudden death occurred in the presence of accelerated graft atherosclerosis. Mild-to-moderate coronary artery lesions were seen in five other patients undergoing angiography one year after transplantation. Apart from the well-known postoperative risk factors in cardiac transplant recipients, accelerated graft atherosclerosis appears to be an additional hazard in the subgroup surgically treated for ischaemic cardiomyopathy.