Heart and heart-lung transplantation: the Canadian and world experience from December 1967 to September 1985.
By Sept. 1, 1985, 62 centres around the world were identified as having participated in heart transplantation; of these 14 had also performed combined heart-lung transplantation. Between December 1967 and December 1984, 1599 recipients had undergone 1644 transplant procedures. By September 1985, 112 heart-lung transplant procedures had been performed in 110 patients. Overall survival at 1 and 3 years respectively, excluding perioperative mortality, averaged 80% and 65%; for heart transplantation alone survival rates were 85% and 75%, respectively. In Canada, of 81 heart and 5 heart-lung transplant procedures that were performed in nine centres between April 1981 and September 1985, 38 heart and 2 heart-lung transplants were carried out in the first 9 months of 1985. Sixty-four of the heart and 2 of the heart-lung transplant recipient were alive from 20 days to 4.42 years postoperatively.