Outcomes in patients with solid organ transplants undergoing cardiac surgery

Objective: Long-term outcomes after cardiac surgery in solid organ transplant recipients are limited in the contemporary literature. The objective of this study is to evaluate postoperative outcomes in these patients, including variables associated with mortality and readmissions.

Methods: All adults undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting, isolated valve, or coronary artery bypass grafting + valve cardiac surgical procedures from 2011 to 2018 were included in this study. Patients with solid organ transplants undergoing cardiac surgery were studied. Primary outcomes included operative (30-day) and 5-year mortality.

Results: A total of 11,190 patients underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting, isolated valve, or coronary artery bypass grafting + valve operations at our institution from 2011 to 2018. Of these, 129 patients (1%) had solid organ transplants and underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (n = 84), isolated valve (n = 30), or coronary artery bypass grafting + valve (n = 15). Type of organ transplant included 84 patients (65%) with kidney, 27 patients (21%) with liver, 9 patients (7%) with heart, and 9 patients (7%) with lung transplants. The median Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk Of Mortality for the cohort was 2.73 (Q1-Q3: 1.67-6.33). Three patients (2%) had an operative (30-day) mortality. Significant variables associated with 5-year mortality on multivariable Cox regression analysis included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (hazard ratio, 2.44; 1.01-5.90; P = .048) and congestive heart failure (hazard ratio, 4.45; 1.81-10.9; P = .001). Significant variables associated with 5-year readmissions included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dialysis dependence, and concomittant valve surgery with coronary artery bypass grafting. Five-year readmission rate was 88%, and patients with valve operations (± coronary artery bypass grafting) had significantly lower (P = .009) freedom from readmission (6%).

Conclusions: Cardiac surgery can be performed with low operative mortality and good long-term survival in patients with solid organ transplants. Five-year hospital readmissions are common, with significantly more readmissions in patients who had valve procedures.