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
. 2022 Mar;26(2):e14163.
doi: 10.1111/petr.14163. Epub 2021 Oct 18.

Physical performance after pediatric solid organ transplantation

Heidi Mäenpää  1 , Juuso Tainio  2 , Hannu Jalanko  2 , Jari Arokoski  3 , Timo Jahnukainen  2
Affiliations

Physical performance after pediatric solid organ transplantation

Heidi Mäenpää et al. Pediatr Transplant. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Introduction: Low physical activity is a well-recognized problem in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients; however, little is known about the differences between transplant groups. Physical performance testing was performed in a cohort of pediatric kidney, liver, and heart transplant recipients.

Methods: Fifty-one patients (54.9% boys), including 17 liver, 20 kidney, 2 combined liver-kidney, and 12 heart transplant recipients, were tested at the median age of 11.5 (7.5-14.9) years. The results were compared with a control group, which consisted of 425 healthy schoolchildren. The physical performance test included six different tests of endurance, strength, flexibility, and speed.

Results: The transplant recipients performed worse on most tests when compared with the control subjects (leg-lift test 42.0 vs. 44.9 repetitions, p = .002; repeated squatting 21.6 vs. 23.9 repetitions, p < .001; sit-up test 9 vs. 17 vs. 9 repetitions, p < .001, back extension 20 vs. 35 repetitions, p < .001; and shuttle run test 26.5 vs. 23.7 seconds, p < .001). None of the test results differed statistically significantly between the transplant groups.

Conclusion: The physical performance of pediatric solid organ transplant recipients is lower than that of their healthy peers but do not differ between different transplant groups. More systematic rehabilitation programs and follow-up are needed.

Keywords: heart transplant; kidney transplant; liver transplant; pediatric solid organ transplantation; physical performance.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Jahnukainen T, Bjerre A, Larsson M, et al. The second report of the nordic pediatric renal transplantation registry 1997-2012: more infant recipients and improved graft survivals. Pediatr Transplant. 2016;20:364-371.
    1. Ng VL, Horslen SP, Fioravanti V, et al. Society of pediatric liver transplantation: Current registry status 2011-2018. Pediatr Transplant. 2020;24:e13605.
    1. Dipchand AI. Current state of pediatric cardiac transplantation. Ann. Cardiothorac. Surg. 2018;2018(7):31-55.
    1. Cohen W, Combs P, El-Zein C, et al. Outcomes from three decades of infant and pediatric heart transplantation. ASAIO J. 2020;67(9):1051-1059.
    1. Mohammad S. Health status in young adults two decades after pediatric liver transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2012;12:1486-1495.

LinkOut - more resources