Abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy in long-term cardiac transplant survivors.

Two thirds of the 114 patients undergoing heart transplantation at Stanford (Calif) Medical Center have had atherosclerotic cardiac disease. Two of these patients have been found in the late posttransplant period to have symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms requiring resection. We present the clinical course and successful operative treatment of these two patients, with emphasis on the prophylaxis of infection and maintenance of hemodynamic, metabolic, and immune stability. Close surveillance of the long-term cardiac transplant survivor should be directed towards other manifestations of atheroscleortic disease.