TY - JOUR
T1 - Practice Patterns Surrounding Pregnancy After Heart Transplantation
AU - Defilippis, Ersilia M.
AU - Haythe, Jennifer
AU - Farr, Maryjane A.
AU - Kobashigawa, Jon
AU - Kittleson, Michelle M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/4/1
Y1 - 2020/4/1
N2 - Background: Pregnancy after heart transplantation (HT) is a concern for many female recipients. The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation has guidelines regarding reproductive health, but limited data exist regarding providers' attitudes and practices surrounding pregnancy post-HT. Methods: We conducted an independent, confidential, voluntary, web-based survey sent electronically to 1643 United States heart transplant providers between June and August 2019. Results: There were 122 responses, the majority from cardiologists (n=85, 70%) and nurse or transplant coordinators (n=22, 18%). Thirty-one percent (n=37) of respondents indicated that pregnancy should be avoided in all HT recipients, and only 43% (n=52) reported that their center had a formal policy regarding pregnancy following HT. The most commonly reported contraindications included nonadherence (n=109, 89%), reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (n=104, 85%), coronary allograft vasculopathy (n=86, 70%), prior rejection (n=76, 62%), presence of donor-specific antibodies (n=69, 57%), and prior peripartum cardiomyopathy pretransplant (n=57, 47%). Respondent sex, specialty, transplant volume, or prior experience with pregnancy after HT were not associated with recommendations to avoid posttransplant pregnancy. Conclusions: Transplant providers' attitudes regarding posttransplant pregnancy vary widely. Despite International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation guidelines, a significant proportion indicates that pregnancy is contraindicated in all recipients and the majority of programs have no center-specific policy to manage such pregnancies. While the low response rate limits the generalizability of the findings, they do suggest that education on the feasibility of pregnancy post-HT is indicated as many recipients are of, or survive to, childbearing age.
AB - Background: Pregnancy after heart transplantation (HT) is a concern for many female recipients. The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation has guidelines regarding reproductive health, but limited data exist regarding providers' attitudes and practices surrounding pregnancy post-HT. Methods: We conducted an independent, confidential, voluntary, web-based survey sent electronically to 1643 United States heart transplant providers between June and August 2019. Results: There were 122 responses, the majority from cardiologists (n=85, 70%) and nurse or transplant coordinators (n=22, 18%). Thirty-one percent (n=37) of respondents indicated that pregnancy should be avoided in all HT recipients, and only 43% (n=52) reported that their center had a formal policy regarding pregnancy following HT. The most commonly reported contraindications included nonadherence (n=109, 89%), reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (n=104, 85%), coronary allograft vasculopathy (n=86, 70%), prior rejection (n=76, 62%), presence of donor-specific antibodies (n=69, 57%), and prior peripartum cardiomyopathy pretransplant (n=57, 47%). Respondent sex, specialty, transplant volume, or prior experience with pregnancy after HT were not associated with recommendations to avoid posttransplant pregnancy. Conclusions: Transplant providers' attitudes regarding posttransplant pregnancy vary widely. Despite International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation guidelines, a significant proportion indicates that pregnancy is contraindicated in all recipients and the majority of programs have no center-specific policy to manage such pregnancies. While the low response rate limits the generalizability of the findings, they do suggest that education on the feasibility of pregnancy post-HT is indicated as many recipients are of, or survive to, childbearing age.
KW - attitude
KW - female
KW - heart transplantation
KW - immunosuppression
KW - pregnancy
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U2 - 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.119.006811
DO - 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.119.006811
M3 - Article
C2 - 32237888
AN - SCOPUS:85082979545
SN - 1941-3289
VL - 13
SP - E006811
JO - Circulation: Heart Failure
JF - Circulation: Heart Failure
IS - 4
ER -