The First Year Post–Heart Transplantation: Use of Immunosuppressive Drugs and Early Complications

A large number of heart transplants are performed annually in different transplant centers in the United States. This is partly because of the improved survival of patients who undergo cardiac transplantation, thus making it a more viable option in the management of end-stage heart failure. The surv...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology and therapeutics 2008-03, Vol.13 (1), p.13-31
Main Authors: Sulemanjee, Nasir Z., Merla, Ramanna, Lick, Scott D., Aunon, Serena M., Taylor, Melissa, Manson, Melissa, Czer, Lawrence S.C., Schwarz, Ernst R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comorbidity
Drug Monitoring
Graft Rejection - classification
Graft Rejection - diagnosis
Graft Rejection - prevention & control
Heart Transplantation - immunology
Hospitals, Special - methods
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents - pharmacology
Immunosuppressive Agents - therapeutic use
Survival Analysis
Time Factors
United States
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A large number of heart transplants are performed annually in different transplant centers in the United States. This is partly because of the improved survival of patients who undergo cardiac transplantation, thus making it a more viable option in the management of end-stage heart failure. The survival benefit after heart transplantation is a result of newer immunosuppressive drug regimens and a better understanding of their effects and interactions. Several studies, mostly involving a small number of patients, describe use and comparison of the many distinct immunosuppressive drugs available to date. Interestingly, many transplant centers perform in-house typical induction treatment regimens because of their own experience and intra-institutional preference. This review summarizes current practices of immunosuppressive drug therapy in the first year post–heart transplant based on the available clinical evidence and discusses future options of heart transplant immunosuppressive drug therapies.
ISSN:1074-2484
1940-4034
DOI:10.1177/1074248407309916