Long‐term effects of primary graft dysfunction after heart transplantation

Background We studied the incidence of primary graft dysfunction (PGD), its impact on in‐hospital and follow‐up outcomes and searched for independent risk factors. Methods During an 18‐year period, 508 individuals underwent heart transplantation at our institution. Patients were diagnosed with none, mild, moderate or severe PGD according to ISHLT criteria. Results Thirty‐eight patients (7.5%) met the ISHLT criteria for mild PGD, 92 (18.1%) for moderate PGD and 23 (4.5%) for severe PGD. Patients were classified into none/mild PGD (77.4%) and moderate/severe PGD (22.6%) groups. In‐hospital mortality was 12.4% (7.8% for none/mild PGD and 28.7% for moderate/severe PGD; p