Heart Transplant Waitlist Outcomes and Wait Time by Center Volume in the Pre-2018 Allocation Change Era

Abstract

Although the transplant outcomes of centers are heavily monitored and compared, with a particular link between posttransplant outcomes and center volume demonstrated, little data exist comparing waitlist outcomes. Here, we explored waitlist outcomes by transplant center volume. We performed a retrospective analysis of adults listed for primary heart transplantation (HTx) from 2008 to 2018 using the United Network for Organ Sharing database. Transplant centers were split into low (<10 HTx/year), medium (10-30 HTx/year), and high (>30 HTx/year) volume, and waitlist outcomes were compared. Of the 35,190 patients included in our study, 23,726 (67.4%) underwent HTx, 4,915 (14.0%) died or deteriorated before receiving HTx, 1,356 (3.9%) were delisted due to recovery, and 1,336 (3.8%) underwent left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. High-volume centers had higher rates of survival to transplant (71.3% vs. 60.6% for low-volume centers and 64.9% for medium-volume centers), and low rates of death or deterioration (12.6% vs. 14.6% for low-volume centers and 15.1% for medium-volume centers). Listing at a low-volume center was independently associated with death or delisting before HTx (HR 1.18, p = 0.007), whereas listing at a high-volume center (HR 0.86; p < 0.001) and prelisting LVAD (HR 0.67, p < 0.001) were protective. Death or delisting before HTx was lowest for patients listed in higher volume centers.