Spanish Heart Transplantation Registry. 25th Official Report of the Spanish Society of Cardiology Working Group on Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation (1984-2013)

The present article reports the characteristics and outcome of heart transplantation in Spain since it was first performed in May 1984. We provide a descriptive analysis of the characteristics of the recipients, the donors, the surgical procedure, and results of the heart transplantations performed in Spain until 31 December 2013. During 2013, a total of 248 transplantation procedures were carried out, bringing the time series to a total of 7023 transplantations. The temporal analysis confirms a significant deterioration in the clinical profile of the recipients (higher percentage of older patients, severe renal failure, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, previous heart surgery, mechanical ventilation), of the donors (higher proportion of older donors and greater weight mismatch), and of the procedure (higher percentage of emergency transplantations which, in 2013, reached 49%, and with ischemia times > 240min). There was a marked increase in the use of circulatory assist devices prior to transplantation which, in 2013, were employed in 25.2% of all the patients. The survivals at 1, 5, 10, and 15 years were 76%, 65%, 52%, and 37%, respectively, and have remained stable since 1995. Heart transplantation activity in Spain remains stable in recent years, with around 250 procedures a year. Despite the clear deterioration in the clinical characteristics of the donors and recipients, and lengthening of the operative times, the results in terms of mortality continue to be comparable to those reported in our neighboring countries, and a growing use of circulatory assist devices prior to transplantation is confirmed. El presente artículo presenta las características y resultados del trasplante cardiaco en España desde que empezó su actividad en mayo de 1984. Se realiza un análisis descriptivo de las características de los receptores, los donantes, el procedimiento quirúrgico y los resultados de los trasplantes cardiacos realizados en España hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2013. Durante 2013 se han realizado 248 procedimientos, con lo que la serie histórica consta de 7.023 trasplantes. El análisis temporal confirma un empeoramiento significativo del perfil clínico de los receptores (mayor porcentaje de pacientes añosos, insuficiencia renal grave, diabetes mellitus insulinodependiente, cirugía cardiaca previa, ventilación mecánica), los donantes (mayor porcentaje de donantes añosos y mayor discordancia de peso) y el procedimiento (mayor porcentaje de trasplante urgente