Background
Research indicates that gender mismatch of organ donor and recipient may adversely affect outcomes in heart transplant (HT) patients. However, there is a paucity of literature on gender-mismatched outcomes in patients receiving a HT, and only a few outcomes have been investigated.
Objectives
Objectives were to: (1) determine if gender-mismatched HT recipients experienced decreased survival, more post-transplant complications, and more days hospitalized during the first post-operative year as compared to gender-matched recipients; and (2) identify risk factors for decreased survival.
Methods
Patients were 347 HT recipients; 21.3% (74) received a heart from the opposite gender. Three groups were compared: Group 1: same gender donor-recipient (273, 78.7%: 36 women, 237 men); Group 2: female donor-male recipient (40, 11.5%); Group 3: male donor-female recipient (34, 9.8%). Ten outcomes were compared with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, logistic regression, and MANCOVA, using a Bonferroni-adjusted P ≤.005. Risk factors for decreased survival were examined with Cox regression.
Results
Gender-mismatched HT patients with a male donor and a female recipient (Group 3) had more treated acute rejections and were rehospitalized more days after HT discharge during the first post-operative year as compared to gender-matched patients. No significant differences were found in 8 other first-year outcomes: number of deaths, survival time, hospital length of stay for HT surgery, cardiac allograft vasculopathy, severe renal dysfunction, new-onset steroid-induced diabetes, non-skin cancers, or the number of infections treated with an intravenous (IV) antibiotic. Risk factors for decreased year 1 survival were higher year 1 cholesterol, earlier IV-treated infection, severe renal dysfunction, earlier treated rejection, and diabetes (both pre-existing and new-onset steroid-induced diabetes).
Conclusion
Gender-mismatched HT recipients had more complications due to rejection and higher resource utilization due to more rehospitalization during the first post-operative year as compared to gender-matched recipients. Therefore, these problem areas may provide targets for possible interventions.