Outcomes of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Heart Transplant Recipients

Heart transplantation (HT) recipients represent a growing patient population. Although mechanisms might differ, coronary artery disease is an important cause of morbidity in this group. Limited data are available on the outcomes of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in HT in comparison to general population (non-HT). The study population was extracted from the National Readmissions Data 2014 using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes for AMI and HT. The study outcomes included in-hospital all-cause mortality, length of hospital stay (LOS), cardiogenic shock, acute kidney injury, the likelihood of receiving invasive left-sided cardiac catheterization with and/or without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and 30-day readmission rates. A total of 259,794 discharges with a principal diagnosis of AMI were identified, in which 789 had a history of HT. In comparison to non-HT, HT group was associated with longer LOS (5.9 vs 4.9 days, p <0.01), more cardiogenic shock (8.8% vs 6.4%, p <0.01), more acute kidney injury (26.2% vs 17.6%, p <0.01), less catheterization (59.7% vs 75.1%, p <0.01), less use of PCI (35.2% vs 50.0%, p <0.01), and higher 30-day readmission rate (21.3% vs 14.4%, p <0.01). However, there was no statistically significant difference in all-cause mortality (6.8% vs 5.4%, p = 0.07). In conclusion, compared with non-HT, HT with AMI was associated with longer LOS, more in-hospital morbidity, lower likelihood of receiving invasive treatment (including PCI), and higher 30-day readmission rates. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality.