Presence of any degree of coronary artery disease among liver transplant candidates is associated with increased rate of post‐transplant major adverse cardiac events

• Published in: Clinical transplantation 2020-11, Vol.34 (11), p.e14077-n/a
• Main Authors: Hughes, Dempsey L., Rice, Jonathan D., Burton, James R., Jin, Ying, Peterson, Ryan A., Ambardekar, Amrut V., Pomposelli, James J., Pomfret, Elizabeth A., Kriss, Michael S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: cirrhosis; coronary angiography; coronary artery disease; liver transplantation
• ISSN: 0902-0063; 1399-0012
• DOI: 10.1111/ctr.14077

The impact of coronary artery disease (CAD) among liver transplant candidates (LTC) on post‐LT clinical outcomes remains unclear. The aim of this study is to determine association of presence and severity of CAD on post‐LT major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including cardiac‐associated mortality. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 231 patients who underwent diagnostic coronary angiogram (DCA) during their LT evaluation at a tertiary medical center from 2012‐2017. Patients were analyzed based on degree of CAD (no CAD, non‐obstructive CAD [< 50% stenosis], obstructive CAD [≥50% stenosis]) per DCA results. MACE were noted at 30 days, 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years post‐LT, and Kaplan‐Meier curves were used to determine post‐LT MACE‐free probability. LTC with any CAD, including non‐obstructive CAD, had lower MACE‐free probability at all post‐LT time points (0.94 vs 0.65 at 30 days, P = .001; 0.87 vs 0.59 at 1 year, P = .002; 0.87 vs 0.41 at 3 years, P