TY - JOUR
T1 - Donor Electrocardiogram Associations With Cardiac Dysfunction, Heart Transplant Use, and Survival
T2 - The Donor Heart Study
AU - Tapaskar, Natalie
AU - Wayda, Brian
AU - Malinoski, Darren
AU - Luikart, Helen
AU - Groat, Tahnee
AU - Nguyen, John
AU - Belcher, John
AU - Nieto, Javier
AU - Neidlinger, Nikole
AU - Salehi, Ahmad
AU - Geraghty, P. J.
AU - Nicely, Bruce
AU - Jendrisak, Martin
AU - Pearson, Thomas
AU - Wood, R. Patrick
AU - Zhang, Shiqi
AU - Weng, Yingjie
AU - Zaroff, Jonathan
AU - Khush, Kiran K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American College of Cardiology Foundation
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - Background: Potential organ donors often exhibit abnormalities on electrocardiograms (ECGs) after brain death, but the physiological and prognostic significance of such abnormalities is unknown. Objectives: This study sought to characterize the prevalence of ECG abnormalities in a nationwide cohort of potential cardiac donors and their associations with cardiac dysfunction, use for heart transplantation (HT), and recipient outcomes. Methods: The Donor Heart Study enrolled 4,333 potential cardiac organ donors at 8 organ procurement organizations across the United States from 2015 to 2020. A blinded expert reviewer interpreted all ECGs, which were obtained once hemodynamic stability was achieved after brain death and were repeated 24 ± 6 hours later. ECG findings were summarized, and their associations with other cardiac diagnostic findings, use for HT, and graft survival were assessed using univariable and multivariable regression. Results: Initial ECGs were interpretable for 4,136 potential donors. Overall, 64% of ECGs were deemed clinically abnormal, most commonly as a result of a nonspecific St-T-wave abnormality (39%), T-wave inversion (19%), and/or QTc interval >500 ms (17%). Conduction abnormalities, ectopy, pathologic Q waves, and ST-segment elevations were less common (each present in ≤5% of donors) and resolved on repeat ECGs in most cases. Only pathological Q waves were significant predictors of donor heart nonuse (adjusted OR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.29-0.53), and none were associated with graft survival at 1 year post-HT. Conclusions: ECG abnormalities are common in potential heart donors but often resolve on serial testing. Pathologic Q waves are associated with a lower likelihood of use for HT, but they do not portend worse graft survival.
AB - Background: Potential organ donors often exhibit abnormalities on electrocardiograms (ECGs) after brain death, but the physiological and prognostic significance of such abnormalities is unknown. Objectives: This study sought to characterize the prevalence of ECG abnormalities in a nationwide cohort of potential cardiac donors and their associations with cardiac dysfunction, use for heart transplantation (HT), and recipient outcomes. Methods: The Donor Heart Study enrolled 4,333 potential cardiac organ donors at 8 organ procurement organizations across the United States from 2015 to 2020. A blinded expert reviewer interpreted all ECGs, which were obtained once hemodynamic stability was achieved after brain death and were repeated 24 ± 6 hours later. ECG findings were summarized, and their associations with other cardiac diagnostic findings, use for HT, and graft survival were assessed using univariable and multivariable regression. Results: Initial ECGs were interpretable for 4,136 potential donors. Overall, 64% of ECGs were deemed clinically abnormal, most commonly as a result of a nonspecific St-T-wave abnormality (39%), T-wave inversion (19%), and/or QTc interval >500 ms (17%). Conduction abnormalities, ectopy, pathologic Q waves, and ST-segment elevations were less common (each present in ≤5% of donors) and resolved on repeat ECGs in most cases. Only pathological Q waves were significant predictors of donor heart nonuse (adjusted OR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.29-0.53), and none were associated with graft survival at 1 year post-HT. Conclusions: ECG abnormalities are common in potential heart donors but often resolve on serial testing. Pathologic Q waves are associated with a lower likelihood of use for HT, but they do not portend worse graft survival.
KW - brain-dead organ donors
KW - donor selection
KW - electrocardiogram
KW - heart transplantation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jchf.2023.12.007
DO - 10.1016/j.jchf.2023.12.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 38244008
AN - SCOPUS:85188423222
SN - 2213-1779
VL - 12
SP - 722
EP - 736
JO - JACC: Heart Failure
JF - JACC: Heart Failure
IS - 4
ER -