NEW YORK, Mar 18, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. scientists say they've
identified criteria that, when combined with kidney function measures, could
create a risk score for heart-kidney transplants.
Dr. Mark Russo of Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian
Hospital, who led the study, said such a risk score could help identify patients
who are likely to receive a survival benefit from a combined heart and kidney
transplant.
"In the past, patients with end-stage heart failure having concurrent renal
disease were not considered candidates for heart transplantation," the
researchers said. "With advances in operative techniques and perioperative
management, combined heart and kidney transplantation is offered to select
patients in this population."
The researchers analyzed data from the United Network for Organ Sharing
involving 19,373 patients who underwent heart transplantation between 1995 and
2005. That included 274 patients who received combined heart and kidney
transplants and 19,109 who received heart transplants alone.
They said they found patients appeared less likely to survive following a
combined heart and kidney transplant if, before surgery, they had peripheral
vascular disease, were older than 65, had heart failure that wasn't caused by
blocked or narrowed arteries, were dependent on dialysis or were placed on a
ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplantation.
The study appears in the journal Archives of Surgery.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International