Indications and outcomes of combined heart-liver transplant: A systematic review and met-analysis

Background: Combined heart-liver transplantation (CHLT) has become a viable option for treating concomitant heart and liver failure. However, data are lacking with respect to long-term outcomes.

Methods: An electronic search was performed to identify all studies on CHLT. Following application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of seven studies consisting of 99 CHLT patients were included from the original 1864 articles.

Results: CHLT recipient mean age was 53.0 years (95% CI 48.0-58.0), 67.5% of which (95% CI 56.5-76.9) were male. 65.5% (95% CI 39.0-85.0) of patients developed heart failure due to amyloidosis whereas 21.6% (95% CI 12.3-35.2) developed heart failure due to congenital causes. The most common indication for liver transplant was amyloidosis [65.5% (95% CI 39.0-85.0)] followed by liver failure due to hepatitis C [13.8% (95% CI 2.1-54.4)]. The mean intensive care unit length of stay was 8 days (95% CI 5-11) with a mean length of stay of 24 days (95% CI 17-31). Cardiac allograft rejection within the first year was 24.7% (95% CI 9.5-50.7), including antibody mediated [5% (95% CI 1.7-15.2)] and T-cell mediated rejection [22.7% (95% CI 8.8-47.1)]. Overall survival was 87.5% (95% CI 78.6-93.0) at 1 year and 84.3% (95% CI 75.4-90.5) at 5 years.

Conclusions: CHLT in select patients with coexisting end-stage heart and liver failure appears to offer high survival and low rejection rates.