Unfavorable outcome of heart transplantation in recipients with type D personalityDenollet, Johan; Holmes, R.V.F.H.; Vrints, C.J.; Conraads, V.
Published in:The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation
Document version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record
General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Background: The role of personality in heart transplantation (HTx) remains largely unknown. We examined the distressed personality (Type D) as a predictor of outcomes in patients suffering from end-stage heart disease who underwent HTx.
Methods:Using the DS14 scale, 51 patients (75% men; 54.1 Ϯ 9.7 years of age) were diagnosed as Type D or non-Type D in the pre-transplant period. End-points of this prospective follow-up study (mean 5.4 years) were mortality and allograft rejection (Grade Ն3A rejection, rejection-free days after HTx).
Results:At baseline, 15 patients were diagnosed as Type D and 36 as non-Type D; they did not differ in recipient or donor characteristics. At follow-up, there were 8 deaths; the mortality rate of Type D recipients was 33% vs 8% for non-Type Ds ( p ϭ 0.036). Two deaths were due to early post-operative complications and were excluded from further analyses. Type D recipients had a 10-fold higher mortality rate after hospital discharge (5 of 15, or 33%) as compared with non-Type D recipients (1 of 34, or 3%) ( p ϭ 0.013, adjusting for age and gender). Among surviving recipients, the rate of Grade Ն3A rejection for both groups was 40% vs 27%, respectively (p ϭ 0.45). The first episode of rejection was diagnosed, on average, after 14 days in Type D recipients vs after 50 days in the other patients (p ϭ 0.032). The risk of unfavorable outcomes (death, Grade Ն3A rejection, or number rejection-free days Յ14) was greater in Type D recipients (12 of 15, or 80%) than in non-Type Ds (13 of 34, or 38%), adjusting for other risk factors (odds ratio: 6.75; 95% confidence interval: 1.47 to 30.97) ( p ϭ 0.014). Conclusions: Type D personality independently predicted mortality and early allograft rejection, and should be accounted for when planning interventions to achieve optimal outcomes after HTx. J Heart Lung Transplant 2007;26:152-8.