Editorial
Cardiopulmonary transplantation in children: a reason for optimism?
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Heart transplants are now an established mode of treatment for heart failure in adults. Are they justified in children? We believe they are.
The aim is to provide a normal quality of life. However, for some, particularly those with an acute cardiomyopathy, it can be a question of life or death. Long term survival is limited by the development of coronary artery disease (probably as a result of chronic rejection) and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). However, data from the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (URL <www.ISHLT.org/regist>) shows a one year survival of 80%, five year survival of 70%, and a "half life" of 12.2 years.
So who should be considered? The ISHLT database shows roughly equal
numbers of children with congenital heart disease and some form of
cardiomyopathy, though this depends on the age group. In those under 1 year of age, over two thirds have congenital
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