Effect of Hepatitis C donor status on heart transplantation outcomes in the United States

Background Recent studies demonstrated safety and efficacy of heart transplantation (HT) from hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐positive donors. We sought to evaluate the impact of HCV donor status on the outcomes of patients undergoing HT in the United States. Methods We analyzed a retrospective cohort of adult patients from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database who underwent isolated HT from 2015 until present. Primary outcomes were 30‐day and 1‐year overall mortality. Secondary outcomes included risk for graft failure and overall survival, incident stroke and need for dialysis during the available follow‐up period. All end points were evaluated according to HCV status. Results All‐cause 30‐day and 1‐year mortality was similar between the two groups (3.4% vs 3.2%, P = .973 and 6.9% vs 7.8%, P = .769, respectively, for patients receiving heart grafts from HCV+ vs. HCV− donors). Graft failure was 12.8% (95% CI: 8%‐19%) and 15.2% (95 CI: 15%‐16%) in the HCV+ and HCV− groups, respectively (P = .92 and P = .68). Competing risk regression analysis for re‐operation showed a non‐significant trend for higher risk for re‐transplantation in the HCV+ group (HR: 2.71; 95% CI: 0.83, 8.80, P = .097). Conclusion HCV donor status does not seem to negatively affect the outcomes of HT in the U.S population.