Pediatric heart transplantation: quality of life.

Staff members at the University of Pittsburgh have performed pediatric heart transplantations since 1982. As heart transplantation becomes an accepted therapeutic treatment, more children undergo surgery and return home. Assessment of the quality of life after transplantation of these children is essential. This article describes the life-styles of seven surviving transplant patients. The children lived for periods ranging from 3 months to 3 years. Patients were evaluated psychosocially by the Personality Inventory for Children, Offer Self-Image Questionnaire, Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, and projective drawings. Daily routines and school achievement were assessed by interviews with the parents. Cardiovascular function was measured by exercise testing. When possible, comparisons were made with the patient's preoperative status. Heart transplantation assaults the body, both physically and emotionally. This study concludes that the surviving children can adapt to the experience. Heart transplantation enables them to return to a level of functioning that is appropriate for age. However, speculation is made whether the benefits gained for a child who undergoes transplantation can be sustained long enough to warrant such extensive treatment.