Thoracic retransplantation: Does time to retransplantation matter?

OBJECTIVE

For some individuals, chronic allograft failure is best treated with retransplantation. We sought to determine if time to retransplantation impacts short- and long-term outcomes for heart or lung retransplant recipients with a time to retransplantation more than 1 year.

METHODS

The United Network for Organ Sharing/Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network STAR file was queried for all adult, first-time heart (June 1, 2006, to September 30, 2020) and lung (May 1, 2005, to September 30, 2020) retransplantations with a time to retransplantation of at least 1 year. Patients were grouped according to the tertile of time to retransplantation (tertile 1: 1-7.7 years, tertile 2: 7.7-14.7 years, tertile 3: 14.7+ years; lung: tertile 1: 1-2.8 years, tertile 2: 2.8-5.6 years, tertile 3: 5.6+ years). The primary outcome was survival after retransplantation. Comparative statistics identified differences in groups, and Kaplan-Meier methods and a Cox proportional hazard model were used for survival analysis.

RESULTS

After selection, 908 heart and 871 lung retransplants were identified. Among heart retransplant recipients, tertile 1 was associated with male sex, smoking history, higher listing status, and increased mechanical support pretransplant. Tertile 3 had the highest rate of concomitant kidney transplant; however, the incidence of morbidity and in-hospital mortality was similar among the groups. Unadjusted and adjusted analyses revealed no survival difference among all groups. Regarding lung retransplant recipients, tertile 1 was associated with increased lung allocation score, pretransplant hospitalization, and mechanical support. Unadjusted and adjusted survival analyses revealed decreased survival in tertile 1.

CONCLUSIONS

Time to retransplant does not appear to affect heart recipients with a time to retransplantation of more than 1 year; however, shorter time to retransplantation for prior lung recipients is associated with decreased survival. Potential lung retransplant candidates with a time to retransplantation of less than 2.8 years should be carefully evaluated before retransplantation.