Current Status and Issues of Pediatric Heart Transplantation in Japan

Abstract

After revision of the Organ Transplant Act, small children were eligible to donate organs if their family gave consent and in fact, up to the end of September 2016, 15 brain-dead children donated their organs, of which 11 children (four children younger than 6 years, five children between 10 and 14 years, and two children between 15 and 17 years) had donated their hearts. Here the current status and issues of pediatric heart transplantation (HTx) in Japan, indications for pediatric HTx, and the Japanese organ transplant network system for pediatric HTx are described. Briefly, 19 children underwent HTx from 11 child and 8 adult donors. In Japan, the indi-cation for HTx was dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) or restrictive cardiomyopathy in most cases, and many candidates with DCM required a left ventricular assist device till HTx. Patient survival at 10 years after HTX was 100 in children who had undergone transplantation in Japan and 87.6 in children who had undergone transplantation abroad.