Current status and outcomes in heart transplantation: a narrative review

Abstract

The first human heart transplantation was performed by Christian Barnard in 1967. While the technical aspect had been worked out, allograft rejection was a major limitation in the early days of heart transplant. The discovery of cyclosporine revolutionized the field and led to the modern era of transplant. Heart transplantation now offers the best survival benefit for patients with end-stage heart failure with a median survival over 12 years. However, there are still limitations including the impact of limited availability of graft, graft dysfunction, and rejection, and long-term non-cardiac complications. This review serves as an update on the short- and long-term outcomes following heart transplantation focusing on the new donor allocation system, efforts to expand the donor pool, primary graft dysfunction, acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejection, cardiac allograft vasculopathy, and post-transplant malignancy and renal dysfunction.