Use of ventricular assist device as a bridge to cardiac transplantation: impact of age and other determinants on outcomes.

We sought to compare outcomes in patients >= 60 years of age with those of their younger counterparts who underwent ventricular assist device implantation intended as a bridge to cardiac transplantation and also to identify retrospectively additional pre- and postoperative factors that might portend adverse outcomes. The medical records of 88 patients who were treated with bridge-to-transplantation ventricular assist devices from 1996 through 2007 were reviewed. Laboratory values, hemodynamic parameters, and the need for hemodynamic support were evaluated. Postoperative complications and bridge-to-transplantation success rates versus death rates were evaluated Seventeen patients were >= 60 years old and 71 patients were <60 years old. In the older group, 59% of patients underwent successful bridging to transplantation, compared with 69% of the younger patients (P=0.41). Multivariate analysis distinguished age >= 60, female sex, earlier time period of operation, higher mean pulmonary arterial and central venous pressures, need for preoperative intra-aortic balloon pumps, and postoperative respiratory failure as independent risk factors for death. After orthotopic heart transplantation, survival to hospital discharge was 100% in the older group and 93.9% in the younger patients. Median lengths of stay were similar in both age categories. Multivariate analysis identified age as I of 6 independent risk factors for death in this study. Patients who successfully underwent cardiac transplantation, however had similar survival statistics regardless of age category. Case-by-case evaluation is warranted when analyzing risk-benefit ratios of bridge-to-transplantation ventricular assist device therapy in the older patient population. (Tex Heart Inst J 2009;36(3):-214-9)