RISK-FACTORS IN HEART-TRANSPLANTATION - A STATISTICAL STUDY OF NEW-ZEALAND CASES

The first heart transplantation in New Zealand was performed on Decemb er 2, 1987. This study covers all forty-five transplantations that wer e performed in New Zealand at Green Lane Hospital from that time throu gh January 1994. Eleven patients from that group have died. The 30 day and 1, 2 and 4 year survival rates were found to be 98.1, 86.7, 80.0 and 75.6%, respectively. The mean waiting period of the patients for h eart transplantation was 61.9 days. Only pulmonary vascular resistance was a statistically significant risk factor for early death after car diac transplantation. Ischemic time was not a significant risk factor in this study.