A study of recipients of heart from donors with hepatitis C shows decreased survival

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Recipients of donor hearts from hepatitis C positive patients are less likely to survive.
A heart transplant is often the only option for someone with heart failure and, as the population ages, the number of those wanting a donor heart has increased dramatically. This means that donors are now being used who might not have been previously. One such category is those with hepatitis C (HCV), a chronic liver infection. Transplant of organs from an HCV donor nearly always results in infection of the recipient which may have an adverse impact on their health.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania now report on a study of 10,915 heart transplant recipients of whom 261 received an HCV-positive donor heart. Survival rates were lowered for recipients of the HCV donor hearts compared to those receiving HCV-negative hearts. At one, five, and ten years respectively survival rates for HCV-positive recipients were 83, 53 and 25 per cent and for HCV-negative recipients the corresponding figures were 92, 77 and 53 per cent. Therefore, the use of HCV-positive hearts confers a survival disadvantage upon their recipients. Such organs should not be used except in critically ill patients.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 18th October 2006 Volume 296 pages 1843-1850