Heart transplantation in Arizona.

From January 1, 1979 through October 31, 1984, 58 heart transplantations have been performed in 57 patients. Conventional immunosuppression was utilized in the first 32 patients. Since January 1, 1983 cyclosporine and a low dose of prednisone have been the immunosuppressive agents of choice. The annual survival rates were 75% in 1979, 67% in 1980, 75% in 1981, 57% in 1982 and 60% in 1983. Patients whose age ranged from 50 to 57 years had similar survival to the younger recipients. Early deaths resulted from infection in 3 patients, acute rejection in 4, acute failure of the donor heart in 2 and renal failure in 2. Late deaths resulted from infection in 5 recipients, acute rejection in 2, chronic rejection in 4, arrhythmia in l and lymphoma in l. Of 31 patients alive, three months to five years after the operation, 28 are NYHA Class I or II. Heart transplantation is thus an effective therapy for selected patients.