Patients with failing Fontan physiology and liver cirrhosis are being considered for combined heart and liver transplantation. We performed a retrospective review of our experience with en bloc combined heart and liver transplantation in Fontan patients > 10 years old from 2006 to 18 per Institutional Review Board approval. Six females and 3 males (median age 20.7, range 14.2-41.3 years) underwent en bloc combined heart and liver transplantation. Indications for heart transplant included ventricular dysfunction, atrioventricular valve regurgitation, arrhythmia, and/or lymphatic abnormalities. Indication for liver transplant included portal hypertension and cirrhosis. Median Fontan/single ventricular end-diastolic pressure was 18/12 mm Hg, respectively. Median Model for End-Stage Liver Disease excluding International Normalized Ratio score was 10 (7-26), eight patients had a varices, ascites, splenomegaly, thrombocytopenia score of ≥ 2, and all patients had cirrhosis. Median cardiopulmonary bypass and donor ischemic times were 262 (178-307) and 287 (227-396) minutes, respectively. Median intensive care and hospital stay were 19 (5-96) and 29 (13-197) days, respectively. Survival was 100%, and rejection was 0% at 30 days and 1 year post-transplant. En bloc combined heart and liver transplantation is an acceptable treatment in the failing Fontan patient with liver cirrhosis.
Keywords: congenital heart disease; liver (native) function / dysfunction; surgical technique.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.