Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

Hybrid delivery of behavioral health screening and prevention intervention for pediatric heart transplant recipients and families: A randomized pilot study

BACKGROUND

A significant number of pediatric heart transplant recipients and their families experience post-traumatic stress symptoms following transplantation, which can impact recipient behavioral and medical health outcomes. Preventive behavioral health interventions may improve outcomes, especially if interventions can be delivered at a distance to decrease barriers to mental health care. This pilot study examined the acceptability and accessibility of an evidence-informed resilience training program delivered using a video telehealth platform. A secondary aim was to assess the preliminary efficacy of the intervention on recipient behavioral health outcomes, perceived barriers to recipient medication adherence, parent behavioral health outcomes, and family functioning.

METHODS

Seventeen heart transplant recipients (8-18 years old) and their families were recruited and randomly assigned to a treatment as usual (n = 8) or an intervention group (n = 9). Baseline assessment data collected included demographic information and validated behavioral health measures. Follow-up assessments included the validated measures and acceptability and satisfaction ratings.

RESULTS

The study demonstrated that the program has high acceptability by recipients and parents, and a positive impact on recipients and parents, including significant reductions in youth behavioral difficulties as well as parent depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Results of this study are promising and call for further evaluation of hybrid delivery models for behavioral health screening and prevention interventions for pediatric heart transplant recipients and their families.

Associations between executive functioning, personality, and posttraumatic stress symptoms in adolescent solid organ transplant recipients

BACKGROUND

Pediatric solid organ transplant recipients are susceptible to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), given the presence of a life-threatening chronic medical condition and potential for complications. However, little is known about what individual characteristics are associated with an increased risk for PTSS among youth who received an organ transplant. The aim of the current study was to evaluate PTSS and its associations with executive functioning (EF) and personality (i.e., neuroticism and conscientiousness) among adolescents with solid organ transplants.

METHODS

Fifty-three adolescents (M_age  = 16.40, SD = 1.60) with a kidney, heart, or liver transplant completed self-report measures of PTSS and personality, whereas caregivers completed a caregiver-proxy report of adolescent EF.

RESULTS

Twenty-two percent of adolescent transplant recipients reported clinically significant levels of PTSS. Higher EF difficulties and neuroticism levels, and lower conscientiousness levels were significantly associated with higher PTSS (rs -.34 to .64). Simple slope analyses revealed that adolescents with both high EF impairment and high levels of neuroticism demonstrated the highest PTSS (t = 3.47; p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Most adolescent transplant recipients in the present study did not report clinically significant levels of PTSS; however, those with high neuroticism and greater EF difficulties may be particularly vulnerable to PTSS following organ transplantation. Following transplantation, medical providers should assess for PTSS and risk factors for developing PTSS. Identification of those at risk for PTSS is critical, given the strong associations between PTSS and certain medical outcomes (e.g., medication nonadherence) among these youth.

Ethical and practical dilemmas in cardiac transplantation in infants: a literature review

The waiting time in infants for a cardiac transplant remains high, due to the scarcity of donors. Consequently, waiting list morbidity and mortality are higher than those in other age groups. Therefore, the decision to list a small infant for cardiac transplantation is seen as an ethical dilemma by most physicians. This review aims to describe outcomes, limitations, and ethical considerations in infant heart transplantation. We used Medline and Embase as data sources. We searched for publications on infant (< 1 year) heart transplantation, bridge-to-transplant and long-term outcomes, and waiting list characteristics from January 2009 to March 2021. Outcome after cardiac transplant in infants is better than that in older children (1-year survival 88%), and complications are less frequent (25% CAV, 10% PTLD). The bridge-to-transplant period in infants is associated with increased mortality (32%) and decreased transplantation rate (43%). This is mainly due to MCS complications or the limited MCS options (with 51% mortality in infancy). Outcomes are worse for infants with CHD or in need of ECMO-support.Conclusion: Infants listed for cardiac transplantation have a high morbidity and mortality, especially in the period between diagnosis and transplantation. For those who receive cardiac transplant, the outlook is encouraging. Unfortunately, despite growing experience in VAD, mortality in children < 10 kg and children with CHD remains high. After transplantation, patients carry a psychological burden and there is a probability of re-transplantation later in life, with decreased outcomes compared to primary transplantation. These considerations are seen as an important ethical dilemma in many centers, when considering cardiac transplantation in infants (< 1 year). What is Known: • For infants, waitlist mortality remains high. In the pediatric population, MCS reduces the waiting list mortality. What is New: • Outcomes after infant cardiac transplantation are better than other age groups; however, MCS options remain limited, with persistently high waiting list mortality. • Future developments in MCS and alternative options to reduce waiting list mortality such as ABO-incompatible transplantation and pulmonary artery banding are encouraging and will improve ethical decision-making when an infant is in need of a cardiac transplant.

Medically Related Post-traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents with Congenital Heart Defects

Children and adolescents with a congenital heart defect (ConHD) frequently undergo painful or frightening medical procedures and hospitalizations. They often need multiple invasive procedures at a very young age and require regular checkups during their entire life. From other pediatric populations, it is known that these kinds of experiences can result in acute stress reactions and even in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the long-term. PTSD and also subthreshold PTSD can lead to serious (psychosocial) impairment. However, limited information is available about PTSD in children with ConHD. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide a summary of the current literature on post-traumatic stress (PTS) in children and adolescents with ConHD describing the prevalence of PTSD and its predictors/correlates. This review indicates that a range of 12-31% of children undergoing cardiac surgery develop PTSD. A range of 12-14% shows elevated post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). These findings are comparable to those of hospitalized children without ConHD. Noteworthy, most studies used varying self-report questionnaires to measure PTSD and only one study used a semistructured interview. Although all studies point in the same direction of elevated PTSD and PTSS, systematic research is necessary to be able to draw firm conclusions. At present, as far as we know, in most clinics treating patients with ConHD, there is no regular screening for PTS in children with ConHD. In the reviewed literature, there is strong consensus that screening for PTSS and (preventive) psychological care for children and adolescents with ConHD is urgently needed.