Introduction: Sinus node dysfunction and atrioventricular conduction disorders occur increasingly after orthotopic heart transplantation (HTX) due to aging donors and may require permanent pacemaker (PM) implantation. Theophylline has been used in the past in selected cases as an alternative to PM implantation.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the rate and success of oral theophylline administration after orthotopic heart transplantation preventing permanent PM implantation.

Methods: We included all patients treated with theophylline post HTX due to bradyarrhythmia's in our center from January 1985 to January 2020. Data was obtained retrospectively through electronic patient files. Re-transplants and patients who died within 1 month post HTX were excluded from the analysis.

Results: Of the total of 751 heart transplant recipients, 73 (9,7%) patients (mean age 46 ± 15.2 years; 73% male) were treated with theophylline for bradyarrhythmia's early post HTX. Of these patients, 14 (19%) patients needed a permanent PM during hospitalization and 10(14%) patients stopped using theophylline because of adequate heart rhythm. In the end, 49 (6.5% of the total) patients were discharged with a theophylline (mean maintenance doses of 354 ± 143 mg). At the outpatient clinics, additional 6 (12%) patients needed a PM within 7 months after discharge, with the rest stable sinus rhythm.

Conclusion: In this retrospective data analyses oral theophylline remained a viable alternative to permanent PM implantations in patients post HTX with increased heart rates, facilitating the withdrawal of chronotropic support and avoiding the need of permanent PM implantation.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9263186PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2022.896141DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

post htx
16
heart transplantation
12
patients
9
theophylline
8
orthotopic heart
8
oral theophylline
8
treated theophylline
8
patients needed
8
permanent
6
heart
6

Similar Publications

Prognostic Value of Ambulatory Status at Transplant in Older Heart Transplant Recipients: Implications for Organ Allocation Policy.

J Korean Med Sci

January 2025

Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Heart Vascular Stroke Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Background: Shortage of organ donors in the Republic of Korea has become a major problem. To address this, it has been questioned whether heart transplant (HTx) allocation should be modified to reduce priority of older patients. We aimed to evaluate post-HTx outcomes according to recipient age and specific pre-HTx conditions using a nationwide prospective cohort.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: With an increasing number of Fontan patients surviving into adulthood, the burden of end-stage heart failure is increasing. Prior studies have reported suboptimal heart transplantation (HTx) outcomes. Therefore, the authors describe their institutional experience of HTx in patients with Fontan circulation failure, including heart-liver transplantation (HLTx) and pretransplant systemic ventricular assist device (SVAD) therapies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Racial and ethnic disparities on the heart transplant waiting list.

Int J Cardiol

January 2025

Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America.

Background: Racial disparities continue to affect countless individuals across the United States and is an ongoing issue in heart transplantation (HTx). Though inequities for post-transplant survival have been heavily studied, there remains conflicting data in waitlist outcome metrics. Our investigation aims to address this by analyzing death on, and transplantation from, the waitlist across multiple racial groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: While lymphodepletion is considered a therapeutic effect of rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (rATG), a concomitant decrease in basophil count (BC) has unknown clinical effect.

Objective: To investigate the association between BC following rATG induction and acute cellular rejection (ACR) during the first post-HTx year.

Methods: Retrospective single-center study included 183 HTx recipients receiving rATG induction between 2010 and 2021 (mean age 52 ± 13 years, 23 % female).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Comprehensive Non-invasive Versus Invasive Approach to Evaluate Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy in Heart Transplantation: The CCTA-HTx Study.

Circ Cardiovasc Imaging

January 2025

Cardiovascular Center Aalst, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis (OLV) Clinic, Aalst, Belgium (M. Belmonte, P.P., M.M.V., M. Beles, H.O., R.S., G.E., M.S., R.D., W.H., J.V.K., J.B., M.V.).

Background: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is emerging as a valuable tool for noninvasive surveillance of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) in patients with heart transplant (HTx). We assessed the diagnostic performance of a comprehensive CCTA-based approach compared with the invasive reference, which includes invasive coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and fractional flow reserve, for detecting CAV.

Methods: This was a multicenter prospective study including 37 patients with HTx who underwent CCTA, invasive coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and fractional flow reserve.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!