Weight Matching in Infant Heart Transplantation: A National Registry Analysis.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Infants account for a significant proportion of pediatric heart transplants, but also suffer from a high waitlist mortality. Donor oversizing by weight-based criteria is common practice in transplantation and is prevalent in this group. We sought to analyze the impact of oversizing on outcomes in infants.METHODS: Infant heart transplantations reported to the United Network for Organ Sharing from 01/1994 to 09/2019 were retrospectively analyzed. 2384 heart transplantation recipients were divided into quintiles (Q1-Q5) based on donor-to-recipient weight ratios (DRWR). Multivariate Cox regression was used to estimate the effect of DRWR. The primary endpoint of graft survival at one year.RESULTS: The median DRWR for each quintile was 0.90 (0.37 to 1.04), 1.17 (1.04 to 1.29), 1.43 (1.29 to 1.57), 1.74 (1.58 to 1.97), and 2.28 (1.97 to 5.00). Pairwise comparisons showed improved survival for Q3 and Q4 over each of the bottom two quintiles and the top quintile, respectively. Regression analyses found that Q3 and Q4 were protective against graft failure when compared to the bottom two quintiles, respectively. There was no difference in hazard amongst the top three quintiles. Significant covariates included primary diagnosis, ischemic time, serum bilirubin, transplant year, mechanical ventilation at transplantation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation at transplantation. Gender, female-to-male transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support at transplantation were not significant in univariate analyses.CONCLUSIONS: Modest oversizing by DRWR (1.29 to 1.97) is associated with increased survival and lower risk in infant heart transplantation. Additional investigation is needed to establish best practices for size-matching in this population.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2022.05.067

View details for PubMedID 35835207