Women at Risk for Decline in Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Following Orthotopic Liver Transplant

Dr. Kirkpatrick and his colleagues studied 80 patients who received an orthotopic liver transplant – the procedure in which the patient’s native liver is removed and replaced with a donor organ in the same spot – to determine who would be more likely to suffer post-transplant complications of the left ventricle.

Researchers found that female patients were more likely to exhibit a left ventricular ejection fraction depression following transplant, with 36.7 percent of women suffering the complication, compared to 16 percent of men.

Kirkpatrick believes that careful pre-operative ventricular assessment may help identify patients who could benefit from careful monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate and volume status, and, possibly, serial echocardiograms. Some of these patients may benefit from aggressive treatment with medications like ACE-inhibitors and beta blockers. The Penn researchers plan to test newer echocardiographic techniques before and after transplant to refine ways to identify these patients.-University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine