Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jul;48(7):565-590.
doi: 10.4070/kcj.2018.0189.

The Past, Present and Future of Heart Transplantation

In Cheol Kim #  1 , Jong Chan Youn #  2 , Jon A Kobashigawa  3
Affiliations
Review

The Past, Present and Future of Heart Transplantation

In Cheol Kim et al. Korean Circ J. 2018 Jul.

Abstract

Heart transplantation (HTx) has become standard treatment for selected patients with end-stage heart failure. Improvements in immunosuppressant, donor procurement, surgical techniques, and post-HTx care have resulted in a substantial decrease in acute allograft rejection, which had previously significantly limited survival of HTx recipients. However, limitations to long-term allograft survival exist, including rejection, infection, coronary allograft vasculopathy, and malignancy. Careful balance of immunosuppressive therapy and vigilant surveillance for complications can further improve long-term outcomes of HTx recipients.

Keywords: Current practice; Forecasting; Heart failure; Heart transplantation; History.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Number of HTx (adult and pediatric) by year and geographic region.
HTx = heart transplantation.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Current status of HTx and risk modification strategy.
AMR = antibody-mediated rejection; HTx = heart transplantation; MCS = mechanical circulatory support; PGD = primary graft dysfunction.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Temporal trends in HTx in Korea after 2000.
HTx = heart transplantation.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Balanced HTx listing strategy.
HTx = heart transplantation.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Physiology of the transplanted heart. Blue arrow indicates blockage of the nerve fibers, red arrow indicates remained effect of circulatory catecholamines.
HR = heart rate; SA = sinoatrial.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Barnard CN. The operation. A human cardiac transplant: an interim report of a successful operation performed at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. S Afr Med J. 1967;41:1271–1274. - PubMed
    1. Reitz BA, Bieber CP, Raney AA, et al. Orthotopic heart and combined heart and lung transplantation with cyclosporin-A immune suppression. Transplant Proc. 1981;13:393–396. - PubMed
    1. Lund LH, Khush KK, Cherikh WS, et al. The registry of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation: thirty-fourth Adult Heart Transplantation Report - 2017; focus theme: allograft ischemic time. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2017;36:1037–1046. - PubMed
    1. Krittayaphong R, Ariyachaipanich A. Heart transplant in Asia. Heart Fail Clin. 2015;11:563–572. - PubMed
    1. Wang SS, Chu SH, Ko WJ. Clinical outcome of heart transplantation: experience at the National Taiwan University Hospital. Transplant Proc. 1996;28:1733–1734. - PubMed