How old is too old for heart transplantation?

Abstract

Heart transplantation is considered the treatment of choice for patients with advanced heart failure. Given the excellent results with transplantation, there has been growing pressure to liberalize eligibility criteria, especially with regard to age. Registry data and early reports have indicated that there may be increased posttransplantation mortality in older patients. A number of single-center reports have shown that survival of older patients may be similar to that of younger patients. The limited supply of donor hearts makes it imperative that careful consideration be given to transplantation results in older recipients and to the overall impact that expanding eligibility criteria for transplantation will have. The limited supply of donor hearts has also led to increased interest in the use of hearts from older donors. This review presents a current perspective on outcomes after heart transplantation in older recipients, use of older donor hearts, and the matching of donor and recipient risk.