Bacterial infections after pediatric heart transplantation: Epidemiology, risk factors and outcomes

Background Bacterial infections represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in heart transplant recipients. However, data describing the epidemiology and outcomes of these infections in children are limited. Methods We analyzed the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study database of patients transplanted between 1993 and 2014 to determine the etiologies, risk factors and outcomes of children with bacterial infections post–heart transplantation. Results Of 4,458 primary transplants in the database, there were 4,815 infections that required hospitalization or intravenous therapy, 2,047 (42.51%) of which were bacterial. The risk of bacterial infection was highest in the first month post-transplant, and the bloodstream was the most common site (24.82%). In the early post-transplant period (