Cardiac Transplantation: An Anesthetic Challenge

Abstract

Heart transplantation has emerged as the definitive therapy for patients with end-stage cardiomyopathy. The two most common forms of cardiac disease that lead to transplantation are ischemic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy, which together comprise approximately 90% of cases. The other less common forms of heart disease include viral cardiomyopathy, infiltrative cardiomyopathy, postpartum cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease and congenital heart disease.