Heart transplantation in patients over 54 years of age : Mortality, morbidity and quality of life

Aims As a consequence of recent advances in heart transplantation, upper age limits for the procedure have been liberalized in many centres. It was the purpose of this study to compare post-transplant mortality, morbidity and quality of life in a consecutive series of 72 patients >54 years (mean age, 576 ± 2.7 years) with a control group of 72 adult patients 54 years and ≤54 years, respectively (P=ns). Causes of death were not significantly different between the groups. Patients >54 years experienced significantly fewer rejection episodes after the 6th month post-transplant (0.5 ± 0.9 vs 0.9 ± 1.0, P 54 years can undergo heart transplantation with mortality and morbidity comparable to younger patients. Quality of life post-transplant seems even to be slightly better in the older age group.