Mitral valve replacement in a heart transplant recipient with iatrogenic mitral regurgitation

Outcomes of left-sided heart valve surgery after heart transplantation: a systematic review

As the survival after heart transplantation (HTx) is steadily improving, an increasing number of patients with late cardiac pathologies such as valvular disease is expected to rise. Nevertheless, no guidelines for indication of redo cardiac surgery after HTx exists. The aim of the present systematic review is to describe the results reported in the literature of surgical management of severe aortic and/or mitral valve disease. A systematic review was conducted including studies reporting on adult patients with severe mitral or aortic valve pathology needing surgery after their previous HTx. Exclusion criteria consisted in surgery with no left heart valve surgery, concomitant valve surgery during heart transplant, transcatheter interventions, and heterotopic HTx. A total of 35 papers met our inclusion criteria out of 2755 potentially eligible studies with 44 mitral valve surgery patients and 20 aortic valve surgery patients. In the entire population, the mean time from HTx to reintervention was 6.19 ± 5.22 years. After a mean follow-up of 2.78 ± 3.54 years and 1.53 ± 2.26 years from reintervention, 65.6% mitral and 86.7% aortic patients were reported as alive, respectively. As guidelines on cardiac surgery after HTx are currently lacking, left-sided valvular cardiac reinterventions can be considered a possible therapeutic approach in carefully selected patients. These interventions may not only improve the patient's functional status and survival, but may ultimately reduce the need for re-transplantation due to the chronic shortage of donor hearts. However, the support of more robust data is warranted.

Indications, Complications, and Outcomes of Cardiac Surgery After Heart Transplantation: Results From the Cash Study

Background

Allograft pathologies, such as valvular, coronary artery, or aortic disease, may occur early and late after cardiac transplantation. Cardiac surgery after heart transplantation (CASH) may be an option to improve quality of life and allograft function and prolong survival. Experience with CASH, however, has been limited to single-center reports.

Methods

We performed a retrospective, multicenter study of heart transplant recipients with CASH between January 1984 and December 2020. In this study, 60 high-volume cardiac transplant centers were invited to participate.

Results

Data were available from 19 centers in North America (n = 7), South America (n = 1), and Europe (n = 11), with a total of 110 patients. A median of 3 (IQR 2–8.5) operations was reported by each center; five centers included ≥ 10 patients. Indications for CASH were valvular disease (n = 62), coronary artery disease (CAD) (n = 16), constrictive pericarditis (n = 17), aortic pathology (n = 13), and myxoma (n = 2). The median age at CASH was 57.7 (47.8–63.1) years, with a median time from transplant to CASH of 4.4 (1–9.6) years. Reoperation within the first year after transplantation was performed in 24.5%. In-hospital mortality was 9.1% (n = 10). 1-year survival was 86.2% and median follow-up was 8.2 (3.8–14.6) years. The most frequent perioperative complications were acute kidney injury and bleeding revision in 18 and 9.1%, respectively.

Conclusion

Cardiac surgery after heart transplantation has low in-hospital mortality and postoperative complications in carefully selected patients. The incidence and type of CASH vary between international centers. Risk factors for the worse outcome are higher European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE II) and postoperative renal failure.

Cardiac Surgery After Heart Transplantation: Elective Operation or Last Exit Strategy?

Background

Because of improved long-term survival after heart transplantation (HTx), late graft pathologies such as valvular disease or cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) might need surgical intervention to enhance longer survival and ensure quality of life. To this date, there exist no guidelines for indication of cardiac surgery other than retransplantation after HTx.

Methods

In this retrospective, single-center study, we evaluated patients who underwent cardiac surgery after HTx at our institution.

Results

Between March 1984 and October 2016, 17 (1.16%) of 1466 HTx patients underwent cardiac surgery other than retransplantation after HTx. Indication were valvular disease (n = 7), CAV (n = 6), and other (n = 4). Of these, 29.4% (n = 5) were emergency procedures and 70.6% were elective cases. Median age at time of surgery was 61 years (interquartile range, 52-66 years); 82.4% (n = 14) were male. Median time to surgery after HTx was 9.3 years (2.7-11.1 years). In-hospital, mortality was 11.8% (n = 2); later need of retransplantation was 11.8% (n = 2) due to progressing CAV 3 to 9 months after surgery. One-year survival was 82.35%; overall survival was 47.1% (n = 8) with a median follow-up of 1477 days (416-2135 days). Overall survival after emergency procedures was 209 days (36-1119.5 days) whereas, for elective procedures, it was 1583.5 days (901.5-4319 days).

Conclusions

Incidence of cardiac surgery after HTx in our cohort was low (1.16%) compared with that of other studies. In elective cases, long-term survival was good.

Use of a MitraClip for severe mitral regurgitation in a cardiac transplant patient

Severe mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients after cardiac transplant has not been well studied. Traditionally, patients have undergone corrective surgery. We report a 64-year-old man who presented with new heart failure symptoms 6 months after cardiac transplantation. He was found to have severe MR and underwent successful implantation of a MitraClip® with reduction of his MR to mild as well as improvement in his symptoms. Six months later he was still doing well, and a repeat echocardiogram showed good results. We found two previously reported cases using the MitraClip to treat severe MR in adult cardiac transplant patients. The MitraClip is a viable treatment option for MR in cardiac transplant patients despite their distorted anatomy.

Chronic mitral valve rejection requiring replacement in a nine-year-old allograft

A 43-year-old woman underwent mitral valve replacement for severe mitral regurgitation nine years after orthotopic heart transplant. Histopathology showed chronic rejection of the mitral valve with lymphocytic infiltrates. The patient is well at one year follow-up. This report describes an identified case of chronic mitral valve rejection requiring valve replacement.

Surgical considerations in the correction of valve dysfunction following heart transplantation

Valve dysfunction is not an uncommon occurrence following heart transplantation but when present can be managed medically with diuretics and vasodilator therapy. If medical therapy fails, these patients are considered for retransplantation. Due to the scarcity of donor hearts, efforts aimed at limiting the pool of cardiac retransplantation candidates are being focused lately on preservation of cardiac allograft function by conventional operations in lieu of a retransplant. A review of the literature for patients who underwent valve operations following their heart transplants yielded 26 cases. Four of these had isolated mitral valve procedures, 18 had tricuspid procedures, two had combined mitral and tricuspid operations and two had aortic valve replacements. In this communication, we present a case of severe aortic insufficiency developing 7 yr after heart transplantation and leading to progressive clinical deterioration and NYHA class IV heart failure symptoms. The aortic valve was replaced with a 21-mm Carbo Medics supra-annular mechanical prosthesis (CarboMedics Inc.). She had a favorable postoperative course and remains well 7 months after her operation. Surgical correction of valvular lesions is warranted if the function of the previously transplanted heart is reasonably preserved.

Mitral valve repair in a transplanted heart via right thoracotomy

With increasing longevity of many heart transplant recipients, the need for cardiac surgery upon the transplanted heart will become more common Herein is presented an illustrative case that reinforces the utility of a right-side thoracotomy to approach valve repair in the transplanted heart.