EXTENDED COMPARISON OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE BETWEEN STABLE HEART-FAILURE PATIENTS AND HEART-TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS

Heart failure has been associated with poor quality of life, which can improve after heart transplantation. Long-term quality-of-life compar isons between patients with heart failure stabilized with medical ther apy and heart transplant recipients have not been performed. We assess ed quality of life at the time of heart transplantation evaluation and again after 41 months in 12 patients with advanced heart failure stab ilized with medical therapy and in 19 patients who had gone on to unde rgo heart transplantation. Quality of life was measured by three quest ionnaires. Both groups had similar quality-of-life and clinical featur es during the transplantation evaluation. Over time, feelings of anxie ty and depression, psychologic adaptation, and perceived functional ca pability improved in the transplant recipients. However, transplant re cipients reported more weakness after surgery; this was the major symp tom that limited activities. At follow-up 41 months later, we found no significant differences in quality-of-life changes over time between patients stabilized with medical therapy and heart transplant recipien ts. Overall quality of life for patients who remain stable while recei ving medical therapy may not be significantly different from patients who have undergone transplantation.