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Introduction: Infections are one of the main complications that cause morbidity and mortality in cardiac transplant recipients. We sought to establish the incidence of infections, identify the predisposing factors and determine their consequences., Patients: A prospective study of 30 patients who received cardiac transplantations in our hospital from July 2003 to May 2005., Results: Of the 30 transplant recipients, 93.3% were men (average age, 48 years); the average age of the women was 53 years. The incidence of infection was 70%: 21 episodes of infection. The main clinical symptoms were bacteriemia (28%), pneumonia (19%), and surgical wound infections (14%). The etiology of the infection, as established in 12 cases (57%), was bacterial (66%), viral (25%), or fungal (9%). The most common microorganisms were cytomegalovirus and coagulase-negative staphylococcus. None of the donors had a history of infection. There was a higher frequency of serious complications, such as renal failure (12.9%), respiratory insufficiency (9.6%), and multiorgan failure (9.6%) among patients with versus without infections (P < .05). The 1-year survival rate of patients with infections was similar to that of patients with no infections (83% vs 88%, P = NS)., Conclusions: The incidence of infections was 70%. Bacteremia, pneumonia, and surgical wound infections occurred most frequently. Cytomegalovirus and coagulase-negative staphylococcus were the most frequent microorganisms. Patients with infections had the most serious complications, but their survival rate was similar to that of patients free of this complication.

Introduction: Emergency heart transplantation remains an important controversy due to the shortage of donors and the previously demonstrated results inferior to other patients. These recipients display a worse clinical status and their donors are more often considered suboptimal. Nevertheless, it is the only therapeutic option for patients with advanced cardiomyopathy and acute decompensation with no response to other therapies. We compared results among the emergency indication with those of elective transplants., Methods: We analyzed the 213 patients who underwent cardiac transplantation in our center up to December 2004 to compare emergency with elective heart transplantations for preoperative and surgical variables as well as outcomes., Results: A higher percentage of emergency patients were New York Heart Association class IV, displayed renal dysfunction, and were women. Regarding donors, a higher percentage were over 40 years of age. No differences were observed in the early and first-year mortality or morbidity rates, although we noted a greater 5-year mortality rate among emergency cases., Conclusions: In our center emergency heart transplantation was associated with only slightly worse results compared with elective transplantations. Both donors and recipients should be carefully selected to improve results.

Graft failure during the first few days posttransplantation remains one of the main unresolved complications. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of Celsior preservation solution on the incidence of early graft failure in high-risk cardiac transplant recipients. A retrospective study was carried out evaluating the cardiac transplants in 179 heart recipients. The patients were divided into 2 groups: (1) Celsior preservation solution (n = 37), and (2) Control solution (n = 142). To evaluate the efficacy of the Celsior solution, a subgroup of transplants from older donors or with ischemia times greater than 4 hours was compared with the other cases. The incidence of early graft failure was lower among the Celsior subgroups with longer ischemia times or of older donors compared with the control groups. We conclude that preservation with Celsior solution in cardiac transplantation is safe and effective. It even has advantages to reduce early graft failure compared with conventional solutions, a benefit that may be more evident in subgroups at high risk for myocardial dysfunction.