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 Jul;36(7):e14705.
doi: 10.1111/ctr.14705. Epub 2022 May 20.

Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after heart transplantation

Atsushi Kainuma  1 , Yuming Ning  2 , Paul A Kurlansky  1   2 , Amy S Wang  1 , Farhana Latif  3 , Maryjane A Farr  3 , Gabriel T Sayer  3 , Nir Uriel  3 , Hiroo Takayama  1 , Yoshifumi Naka  1 , Koji Takeda  1
Affiliations

Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after heart transplantation

Atsushi Kainuma et al. Clin Transplant. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is an important and serious postoperative complication after heart transplantation. We sought to characterize in-hospital VTE after heart transplantation and its association with clinical outcomes.

Method: Adult (≧18 years) patients undergoing heart transplantation from 2015 to 2019 at our center were retrospectively reviewed. Post-transplant VTE was defined as newly diagnosed venous system thrombus by imaging studies.

Results: There were 254 patients. The cohort's median age was 55 years. A total of 61 patients were diagnosed with VTE, including one with right atrial thrombus, 54 with upper extremity DVT in which one patient subsequently developed PE, four with lower extremity DVT, and two with upper and lower extremity DVT. The cumulative incidence of VTE was 42% at 60-days of post heart transplant. Patients with VTE had longer hospital stay (P < .001), higher in-hospital mortality (P = .010), and worse 5-year survival (P = .009). On the multivariable Cox analysis, history of DVT/PE and intubation for more than 3 days were associated with an increased risk of in hospital VTE.

Conclusion: The incidence of VTE in heart transplant recipients is high. Post-transplant surveillance, and appropriate preventive measures and treatment strategies after diagnosis are warranted.

Keywords: deep vein thrombosis; orthotopic heart transplantation; perioperative care; venous thromboembolism.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Elboudwarej O, Patel JK, Liou F, et al. Risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after heart transplantation: clinical outcomes comparing upper extremity deep vein thrombosis and lower extremity deep vein thrombosis. Clin Transplant. 2015;29:629-635.
    1. Alvarez-Alvarez RJ, Barge-Caballero E, Chavez-Leal SA, et al. Venous thromboembolism in heart transplant recipients: Incidence, recurrence and predisposing factors. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2015;34:167-174.
    1. Thibodeau JT, Mishkin JD, Patel PC, et al. Sirolimus use and incidence of venous thromboembolism in cardiac transplant recipients. Clin Transplant. 2012;26:953-959.
    1. Rizk J, Mehra MR. Anticoagulation management strategies in heart transplantation. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2020;63:210-218.
    1. Sáez-Giménez B, Berastegui C, Loor K, et al. Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after solid organ transplantation: an unresolved problem. Transplant Rev. 2015;29:85-92.

LinkOut - more resources