Intermediate-term outcomes after combined heart-liver transplantation in children with a univentricular heart

For patients with end-stage hepatic failure secondary to failing hemodynamics, combined heart-liver transplant (H-LT) remains the only option for long-term survival. We report a series of three pediatric patients who successfully underwent orthotopic H-LT for failed single-ventricle palliation. All three patients are currently living, now two, three, and five years post-transplant, and remain completely free of cardiac cellular allograft rejection despite reduced immunosuppression protocols. One patient, however, did develop acute antibody-mediated rejection in the immediate post-transplant period, suggesting that this protective effect may be less effective in attenuating humoral mechanisms of rejection. J Heart Lung Transplant 2013;32:368-370 (C) 2013 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. All rights reserved.