Emergency Department Management of Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients: Unique Immunologic and Hemodynamic Challenges

Abstract

Background: Since the first heart transplant in 1967, there has been significant progress in this field of cardiac transplantation. Approximately 600 pediatric heart transplants are performed every year worldwide. With the increasing number of pediatric heart transplant patients, and given the few tertiary care pediatric transplant centers, adult and pediatric emergency department (ED) providers are increasingly engaged in the care of pediatric heart transplant recipients in the ED.

Objective: The aim of this article is to review common ED scenarios pertinent to the pediatric heart transplant patients.

Discussion: There are complications unique to this population, such as rejection, opportunistic infections, and medication side effects, that require special considerations, and it is helpful for the emergency medicine (EM) provider to have knowledge about them.

Conclusions: The unique immunological challenges in these patients, including rejection and medication side effects and opportunistic infections, make this population fragile, and the knowledge of these challenges is helpful for EM providers.

Keywords: complications; heart transplant; pediatric; rejection.