Impact of Diabetes Mellitus on Survival in Patients Bridged to Transplantation with Left Ventricular Assist Devices in the United States

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with increased mortality in advanced heart failure and in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, its impact on outcomes in patients supported with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) is not well established. We queried the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) for all adults listed for heart transplantation and bridged with continuous-flow LVAD in the United States from 2000 to 2015. We compared the pre- and post-transplant mortality of patients with and without DM. Unadjusted and adjusted time-event analyses were performed. A total of 4,978 patients were included in this analysis, of whom 33% had DM. Mean age was 53 ± 12 years, 79% were male, and 65% were Caucasian. Compared with those without, patients with DM were older (age 52 vs. 57 years; p < 0.001), more likely to be male (78% vs. 82%; p = 0.007), smokers (52% vs. 57%; p = 0.011), obese (mean body mass index [BMI] 28 vs. 30; p < 0.00), and have ischemic cardiomyopathy (37% vs. 53%; p < 0.001). Diabetes mellitus was not associated with increased wait-list mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.16 [0.88-1.53]; p = 0.30), or wait-list mortality/delisting (HR: 1.17 [0.97-1.41]; p = 0.11). Among patients who underwent transplantation, DM was associated with increased adjusted overall mortality (HR: 1.23 [1.002-1.52]; p = 0.048). One-third of patients bridged-to-transplantation with LVAD in the United States have DM. While it does not increase wait-list mortality or delisting, DM is associated with decreased post-transplantation survival.