The association of lymphopenia and post‐transplant infection in children: Is it time to change induction in Fontan heart transplant recipients?

Abstract

The Fontan population remains challenging, but a multi-facetted approach to risk factor analysis in research and at bedside offers the best chance to understanding the weight of pre-HT characteristics on post-HT outcomes. The temptation to uniformly reduce induction therapy for Fontan patients must be tempered by the potential for increased rejection risk which also carries known increased risk for subsequent rejection, graft dysfunction, graft loss, and coronary vasculopathy. Recognizing and addressing any modifiable factors pre-HT while also increasing post-HT surveillance will hopefully lead to improved Fontan patient post-HT outcomes over time.